Burton

The Jackie McLean-influenced alto saxophonist Abraham Burton was a member of Art Taylor's Wailers until the drummer's death in 1995. This was Burton's second album as leader, recorded live at Visiones on March 17 & 18, 1995 with pianist Marc Cary, bassist Billy Johnson & drummer Eric McPherson. The band is well-integrated and highlights of the seven impressive tracks are Jackie McLean's 'Little Melonae', the standard 'I Can't Get Started' and a stunning, Coltrane-inspired version of Erik Satie's 'Gnossienne #1'. Burton plays superbly throughout and the 63 minutes of moving and passionate music on 'The Magician' deserves a place in any modern jazz collection.

Intensity, pride, and passion are the earmarks for the modern mainstream jazz quartet co-led by tenor saxophnist Burton and drummer McPherson. They display a fervor that is consistently buoyed by the insistent pianistics of James Hurt, while bassist Yosuke Inoue stokes the fire with bituminous strokes of swing and steadying brute force. Each of these six compositions allow each member to stretch out and dig in, and they have a definite center from which to draw upon. Many will be reminded of the classic John Coltrane quartet from their Impulse recordings: slightly on the edge, forever moving forward. "Nebulai" is set up by a probing ostinato bass sets, Hurt's roaring piano, and Burton's bridge workout, which reflects Coltrane's energy, but sports Burton's voice…

For his first album for the Concord jazz imprint, vibraphonist Gary Burton goes back: back to some of the most enduring compositions in the jazz lexicon, constructing the program on Departure completely from jazz standards, except for "Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs" (the theme from the television show Frasier). Along with guitarist John Scofield, drummer Peter Erskine, pianist Fred Hersch, and bassist John Patitucci, Burton also returns here to the quicksilver, porcelain sound of the George Shearing quintet, Burton's first job after graduating from the Berklee College of Music. For the uninitiated, Departure is a worthwhile introduction to Burton's style on vibes, with his strong sense of swing swaddled in a sound that's most often elegant yet sometimes surprisingly funky.

Gary Burton's Libertango: The Music of Astor Piazzolla continues the vibraphonist's homage to Piazzolla's nuevo tango, which began with 1996's Astor Piazzolla Reuninon: a Tango Excursion. Here, as on that album, Burton collaborates with former Piazzolla players such as pianist Pablo Ziegler, violinist Fernando Suarez-Paz, and guitarist Horacio Malvicino on stylized updates of the composer's best-known tangos. Burton's vibes weave in and out of interpretations of "Escualo," "Fuga Y Misterio," and "Adios Nonino," which dance along on brisk, jazzy rhythms that nevertheless capture the tango's elegant passion. Libertango is another fresh and worthwhile exploration of Piazzolla's music from an artist.

This two-fer brings together two key Gary Burton Quartet works of the the late '60s. After 1967's Duster, the Quartet went on to collaborate with composer Carla Bley on A Genuine Tong Funeral, a quirky, mordant jazz "opera" that owes as much to Kurt Weill as to Charles Mingus. Besides Burton, guitarist Larry Coryell, and bassist Steve Swallow, the free-spirited drummer Bob Moses makes his appearnce, having replaced veteran Roy Haynes. Other Bley stalwarts include saxophonists Gato Barbieri and Steve Lacy, who pop in and out of the vivid cartoon-like musical narrative.
The shaggy Moses is key to the musical feel of Lofty Fake Anagram, the official follow-up to the outstanding Duster. With the exception of Duke Ellington's "Fleurette Africaine" however, the writing isn't quite as strong as on the previous date's…

On its sophomore offering for Mack Avenue Records, the New Gary Burton Quartet reveals the musical maturity that naturally occurs when a disparate but extremely gifted group of players locks in as a band. Vibraphonist Burton, guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Antonio Sanchez made their debut with 2012's Common Ground, a date steeped in fine originals from all the players, as well as a few covers. That blend is no different here, though the emphasis changes a bit. For starters, Burton, who is notoriously reticent as a composer, actually contributes two pieces to this set. The first is a revisit of "Remembering Tano," a tango written for the late Astor Piazzolla (featuring gorgeous arco work from Colley), and the lithe swing that makes up the backbone of "Jane Fonda Called Again"…

Not only does this LP feature a "new quartet," but it marks the beginning of Gary Burton's longtime association with ECM. In general, Burton's ECM dates were more introverted and laid-back than his more diverse Atlantic releases, but they always had their moments of interest. On this set, the vibraphonist, guitarist Mick (then known as Michael) Goodrick, bassist Abraham Laboriel, and drummer Harry Blazer perform numbers by Chick Corea ("Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly"), Keith Jarrett ("Coral"), Gordon Beck, Carla Bley, and Mike Gibbs, in addition to Burton's "Brownout." Intriguing if not essential music.