Fave Kenny Burrell tunes (-to play)

**MarkRhodes** · 08-11-2015, 03:40 PM

Just curious which tunes played by Kenny (-whether he wrote them or not) players here are most likely to play, either home alone or at a gig / jam session.

"Chitlins Con Carne" was the first recording of his I heard (-on a great Blue Note comp that introduced me to a lot of great players) and remains a favorite, as does "Midnight Blue" and "Back at the Chicken Shack" (-from the Jimmy Smith CD of the same name). But lately I'm loving this the most:

**PMB** · 08-11-2015, 06:58 PM

I did an organ gig recently and searched around for a substitute to the fine but overexposed "Chitlins Con Carne". We settled on "Hot Bossa", a great track from Kenny's hard-to-find mid '60s release, "The Tender Gender". The album was briefly back in print a couple of years ago and has been reissued as part of the collection "Soulero":

**neatomic** · 08-11-2015, 07:41 PM

really, anything from midnight blue is great fun to play…i spent a countless amount of time playing along, just trying to dial in his tone!…one of the great jazz tones of all time, not counting his actual playing!!! hah

a sleeper tho is..alfies theme…from the film score alfie (michael caine) by sonny rollins and oliver nelson…just really great head melody and then right into soloing…kenny b gets the first solo at about a minute in..just great

cheers

**sgcim** · 08-11-2015, 08:54 PM

I always liked to play his song "Just Be Yourself" from the period when he was playing his D'A.
I think it was from the "Asphalt Canyon" LP.

**Greentone** · 08-13-2015, 03:05 PM

Of course, anything from the organ trios. From KB's headline work, I like to play stuff from these albums: Midnight Blue (duh), Guitar Forms, Tin Tin Deo, and the somewhat rare 1980 album Heritage. This last features KB playing 'Night in Tunisia,' 'Mood Indigo,' 'St Louis Blues,' 'Struttin with Some Barbeque,' 'When the Saints Go Marchin In,' 'Lush Life,' 'Naima,' 'A Child Is Born,' and 'Round Midnight.' Burrell just kills Monk's Round Midnight and Strayhorn's Lush Life.

**feral guitar** · 08-13-2015, 04:17 PM

delilah

**Dedalus** · 09-19-2015, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by neatomic

really, anything from midnight blue is great fun to play…i spent a countless amount of time playing along, just trying to dial in his tone!…one of the great jazz tones of all time, not counting his actual playing

Completely agree with this, but the song that grabs at me the most is "Mule". Love it.

**MarkRhodes** · 09-19-2015, 09:33 AM

For those who can't recall how "Mule" goes.....

**TOMMO** · 09-19-2015, 10:22 AM

Great thread - I love Kenny Burrell! "Midnight Blue" was my first K.B. album and as a blues player I found it immensely accessible. "Chitlin Con Carne" especially. btw - Chicago's Otis Rush used to do that too.

I'm very much into "Soul Lament" at the moment and working on learning it. Speaking of that tune I'm still unsure if this was an impromptu improvisation or a theme he had sketched out but had not fully developed yet....

**Little Jay** · 09-19-2015, 04:58 PM

Jeanine! (Well, not his tune, but I like his version a lot

**MarkRhodes** · 09-19-2015, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by Little Jay

Jeanine! (Well, not his tune, but I like his version a lot

That is a great tune and Kenny does it o so well. I haven't learned this. Another entry for the never-ending list....

**Max405** · 09-20-2015, 08:31 PM

The only one I know how to play is Autumn in New York.
Around this time every year I dust that one off and make it a part of the little serenade I play for my wife when she is doing her hair on a Sunday morning. Last year I heard her say, "I like that one, play it again.." I gladly obliged..
Joe D

**MarkRhodes** · 09-20-2015, 09:33 PM

Here is an amazing slow blues outing by KB.

**gggomez** · 09-20-2015, 10:27 PM

Yes Mark Soulful Brothers is great to jam on (I think that magic floating piano is Herbie Hancock, what a rare combination) but the head, for me is so hard to play in time.

**robertoart** · 09-21-2015, 08:39 AM

And check this out. Performed on the same bill as Grant Green and George Benson. What a gig this must have been.

"some well executed turns from Kenny Burrell"

The drumming on this is awesome too.

**Greentone** · 09-21-2015, 08:50 PM

Great thread

**Dedalus** · 09-22-2015, 12:52 AM

Originally Posted by MarkRhodes

Here is an amazing slow blues outing by KB.

Love this clip, Mark. I'll definitely be working through these licks.

**Eric Rowland** · 09-22-2015, 01:37 AM

**MarkRhodes** · 09-22-2015, 10:24 AM

This is another tune Kenny did a great job with, Lester Young's "D.B. Blues."

**GuitarGerry** · 10-03-2015, 02:20 PM

Not sure if this has been posted recently, but it can't help to draw attention to it again if it has:

Kenny Burrell On Piano Jazz : NPR

Kenny playing piano? Who knew.

One of my early influences when I was making the transition from blues to jazz (I have a soft spot for him).

**lawson-stone** · 10-03-2015, 06:01 PM

I love his performance of "I'm Old Fashioned" on the album Sunup to Sundown. His solo on that is about the second or third solo I ever transcribed. I just love it. In fact, at my daughter's wedding, she and I had the daddy-daughter dance to that tune (though not KB's version of it).