Kenny Burrell 90; Verve & BN Japan reissues

[RiRiIII]

Finally his 2 neglected Verve LPs, are being reissued on June 16, 2021, i.e. 20 years after their first and only reissue again in Japan:

https://www.universal-music.co.jp/kenny-burrell/products/uccu-8064/

https://www.universal-music.co.jp/kenny-burrell/products/uccu-8065/

 

 

Some more too:

https://www.universal-music.co.jp/jazz/release2021/cat/06kenny-burrell/

 

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by RiRiIII
add

[mjzee]

Great news!  But why oh why didn't they also reissue the BN album Freedom?  I've never seen that one in the wild.

And this is weird: they're adding two additional tracks to the Argo Village Vanguard set: I Can't See For Lookin' and Cheek To Cheek.  But what about Afternoon In Paris and Tricotism?  I have those on a Chess compilation called Recapitulation.  They should have been added here.

[RiRiIII]

These extra tracks were also issued in the Complete Edition of this record issued in Spain. 6 extra tracks in total. 

[ghost of miles]

19 hours ago, RiRiIII said:

Finally his 2 neglected Verve LPs, are being reissued on June 16, 2021, i.e. 20 years after their first and only reissue again in Japan:

https://www.universal-music.co.jp/kenny-burrell/products/uccu-8064/

https://www.universal-music.co.jp/kenny-burrell/products/uccu-8065/

 

 

Some more too:

https://www.universal-music.co.jp/jazz/release2021/cat/06kenny-burrell/

 

 

Thanks for the heads-up--unfamiliar with these two Burrell titles and would be curious to hear them.

[RiRiIII]

CDjapan listing of these series is here.

[JSngry]

I got them both from the Golden Age Of Blog...they are both nice. But both "productions" to varying degrees. Sebesky on Night Song, Johnny Pate on Asphalt Canyon Suite. They're both "better" if you listen past the backgrounds, but sometimes the backgrounds are actually...contributative to the mood.

I think they would both fit on one CD, though, and given the prices relative to the overall productions, I'd feel a lot better about getting them like that.

But Burrell himself is at the peak of his soulful, public appeal self. It's playing like this that got him that gig for the Schlitz Malt Liquor radio ad.

[sgcim]

KB used his D'Angelico New Yorker on both of those albums with a DeArmond RC-1100 floating pickup. IMHO, he never got a fuller,

smoother, more nuanced sound on any of his other records, when he used mass produced Gibson guitars. D'Angelicos were made by one man, John D'Angelico, who had a shop in Little Italy from the 1930s till his death in 1964. My father was a guitarist/songwriter back then, who lived on Elizabeth St. and used to hang out at his shop on Kenmare St.. He bought a D'Angelico from his best friend Duke, who was an excellent guitarist and jewelry designer, and designed the Art Nouveau design of the building on the headstock of the New Yorker model guitar.

My father paid something like $400 for his D'A guitar, which was an early model made in 1935, which I inherited when he passed.

When I went to the Felt Forum to see KB play at the Newport in NY Festival, Kenny was using that guitar, and when he played the first two quartal chords of his version of "People", numerous spontaneous orgasms were reported to have broken out through the capacity audience- both male and female!

He played the guitar through his Twin Reverb, and filled the huge auditorium with the sonorous sound of his D'A.

Kenny sold his D'A through Mandolin Bros., an overpriced guitar store in Staten Island for something like $86K in the late 80s.

[RiRiIII]

9 hours ago, sgcim said:

KB used his D'Angelico New Yorker on both of those albums with a DeArmond RC-1100 floating pickup. IMHO, he never got a fuller,

smoother, more nuanced sound on any of his other records, when he used mass produced Gibson guitars. D'Angelicos were made by one man, John D'Angelico, who had a shop in Little Italy from the 1930s till his death in 1964. My father was a guitarist/songwriter back then, who lived on Elizabeth St. and used to hang out at his shop on Kenmare St.. He bought a D'Angelico from his best friend Duke, who was an excellent guitarist and jewelry designer, and designed the Art Nouveau design of the building on the headstock of the New Yorker model guitar.

My father paid something like $400 for his D'A guitar, which was an early model made in 1935, which I inherited when he passed.

When I went to the Felt Forum to see KB play at the Newport in NY Festival, Kenny was using that guitar, and when he played the first two quartal chords of his version of "People", numerous spontaneous orgasms were reported to have broken out through the capacity audience- both male and female!

He played the guitar through his Twin Reverb, and filled the huge auditorium with the sonorous sound of his D'A.

Kenny sold his D'A through Mandolin Bros., an overpriced guitar store in Staten Island for something like $86K in the late 80s.

Many thanks for your message. A wonderful piece of history you own.

I found this on the web regarding Burrell and his Gibson guitars:

"The Gibson Super 400 has been your trademark guitar for many years. When did you first begin playing one, and what attracted you?
It was probably in the late 1960s. I’d been using a D’Angelico New Yorker, which was the same size as a Super 400 (18″ body). I like that body size – and where my elbow rests. What I like about the Super 400 (CES) is the humbucking pickup. I originally used the Charlie Christian bar pickup; that’s what I had in my L-5 and L-7 guitars [in the late ’50s/early ’60s]. But the humbuckers had no noise and worked better, especially when I had to turn up the volume with people like Jimmy Smith. They are more “utilitarian,” if you will. I prefer the Super 400 model with two humbuckers and a Florentine cutaway. With that cutaway, I can get my whole hand up there."
 

[sgcim]

16 hours ago, RiRiIII said:

Many thanks for your message. A wonderful piece of history you own.

I found this on the web regarding Burrell and his Gibson guitars:

"The Gibson Super 400 has been your trademark guitar for many years. When did you first begin playing one, and what attracted you?
It was probably in the late 1960s. I’d been using a D’Angelico New Yorker, which was the same size as a Super 400 (18″ body). I like that body size – and where my elbow rests. What I like about the Super 400 (CES) is the humbucking pickup. I originally used the Charlie Christian bar pickup; that’s what I had in my L-5 and L-7 guitars [in the late ’50s/early ’60s]. But the humbuckers had no noise and worked better, especially when I had to turn up the volume with people like Jimmy Smith. They are more “utilitarian,” if you will. I prefer the Super 400 model with two humbuckers and a Florentine cutaway. With that cutaway, I can get my whole hand up there."
 

Thanks for the enlightening interview. It's funny that he doesn't mention the DeArmond RC1100 pickup of his D'A, in many people's opinions the greatest pickup ever invented. Guild paid a Korean company a lot of money to try and replicate it, but I bought one, and they failed IMHO. Harry DeArmond was an electronics genius. Kent Armstrong tried to make one, and while it's better than Guild's, it's still not as good as the original.The humbuckers might be quieter than the DeArmond, but if you're playing loud with Jimmy Smith, who's going to notice it?

He also doesn't mention why he got rid of his D'A. I emailed him once about it; he never got back to me.

[mikeweil]

Asphalt Canyon Suite and Night Song are due out over here on June 16. I pre-ordered both, even though I have them on some external hard drive. As it turns out I rarely play downloaded music. 

[jazzbo]

I also have those two pre-ordered, but they are now linked in an order with the Alice Coltrane titles which were moved to July . . . so I won't be getting them til then. 

[mjzee]

Dusty Groove has the upcoming Burrell reissues at a good price: $18.99.  I ordered Blue Bash, Common Ground, A Generation Ago Today, Night Song, and Asphalt Canyon Suite.  I think Verve generally blanded-out their artists, but hopefully the Burrell personality will shine through.

Recently ordered this, and thoroughly enjoyed it:

[mikeweil]

4 hours ago, mjzee said:

Recently ordered this, and thoroughly enjoyed it:

This version has more takes:

[Eric]

On 6/6/2021 at 0:10 PM, mjzee said:

Dusty Groove has the upcoming Burrell reissues at a good price: $18.99.  I ordered Blue Bash, Common Ground, A Generation Ago Today, Night Song, and Asphalt Canyon Suite.  I think Verve generally blanded-out their artists, but hopefully the Burrell personality will shine through.

Recently ordered this, and thoroughly enjoyed it:

Yes, I bought this on LP when it came out.  Always loved this one, glad to have it on CD.

[felser]

On 6/6/2021 at 11:42 AM, mikeweil said:

As it turns out I rarely play downloaded music. 

Same with me

 

[Ken Dryden]

   On 6/6/2021 at 11:42 AM,  mikeweil said: 

As it turns out I rarely play downloaded music. 

I also have little use for downloaded music, especially when offered for review. That means I have to burn a disc to hear it somewhere other than a computer and that automatically makes it a low priority for either casual listening or my radio program.

[mikeweil]

On 6.6.2021 at 5:42 PM, mikeweil said:

Asphalt Canyon Suite and Night Song are due out over here on June 16. I pre-ordered both, even though I have them on some external hard drive. 

Just received a shipping note.

Edited June 24, 2021 by mikeweil

[mikeweil]

I received the two CDs on Friday, and although I knew the music as I had a download, I am delighted. The sound is pristine, and I like the music. Burrell's feeling is beyond any criticism, and the arrangements are very good, carry the message. Blues and feeling a-plenty. Only bummer is that both albums are under 40 minutes and there is no hope that any of the unissued material has survived the many mishaps in the Universal vaults. Any serious Burrell fan should seize the opportunity.

Edited July 15, 2021 by mikeweil

[DMP]

Very good, but typical of the Verve productions of the day, mixing straight-ahead quartet material with big band tracks. (A big band version of “Chitlins Con Carne” was apparently left on the “Asphalt” cutting room floor.)Burrell was recording for Verve, Cadet and even Prestige at the same time!  I’ve always thought “Tender Gender” was as good as anything he recorded in that period. 

[mikeweil]

I always said the Verve and Cadet albums would have made a great box set. 

Ordered "Ode to 52nd Street" a few days ago which was reissued in the same Japanese series. I have the Cadet Xmas album on CD and the "Soulero" Chess GRP compilation which has all of "Tender Gender" and part of "Ode to 52nd Street". 

Edited July 15, 2021 by mikeweil

[felser]

3 hours ago, mikeweil said:

I always said the Verve and Cadel albums would have made a great box set. 

+1

[mikeweil]

This one probably was overlooked - is it good?

https://www.discogs.com/The-Kenny-Burrell-Octet-Lotsa-Bossa-Nova/master/747102

On 14.7.2021 at 7:07 PM, DMP said:

 I’ve always thought “Tender Gender” was as good as anything he recorded in that period. 

Listened to it today - great quartet album!

[mikeweil]

I highly recommend "Ode to 52nd Street" to everybody here that purchased the other Verve reissues. The "Suite for Guitar and Orchestra" by Burrell and Richard Evans is as good as any of the other works with orchestral arrangements. The credits, btw, say that Burrell appears coourtesy of Verve Records.

[jazzbo]

I agree. The new reissue sounds very good as well.

[JSngry]

How come Grand Canyon is not at Dusty Groove? If I was going to get one of these two, that would be it.

Or is it?