Kenny Burrell tone and gear (Midnight Blue)

[Bruce Kiely]

Does anyone know Kenny Burrell's gear for the Midnight Blue sessions?

[fasstrack]

No clue. but he always did get a gorgeous, fat sound. Comes from him, I would posit.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to have good equipment...

[Cunamara]

https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...ight-blue.html

Probably ES-175, P90s and a Fender tweed Deluxe. Maybe an L-7, which might have had a DeArmond. And of course he used the patented Kenny Burrell fingers!

I have a tweed Deluxe clone and it has become the amp I use for almost everything. Very flexible tonally, great warm sound, small, light and plenty loud to be heard over drums and horns.

[neatomic]

shot of burrell and turrentine generally thought to be from mb sessions






matching shot







burrell was known to have a fender tweed deluxe that rudy van gelder particularly liked

cheers

[Cunamara]

Well, that there looks like an L5.

[TOMMO]

A tweed Deluxe was the resident amp in Van Gelder's studio - that's what I have heard and read from several sources.

[wintermoon]

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/t...nny-burrel-es/

[neatomic]

yes kennys l-5 had a cc pup..(he was yet another huge ccharlie christian fan)

he also had an l5 -ces with an extended cutaway

cc pup through a tweed deluxe sounds about right...that tone had to be a single coil of some kind ie p90, staple alnico V...so cc makes perfect sense


cheers

[entresz]

It's interesting how many of the tones that amazed me the most, right from the first note (early Tal, Kenny Burell, Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian of course) seem to come from CC pickups.

[Doctor Jeff]

It's interesting how many of the tones that amazed me the most, right from the first note (early Tal, Kenny Burell, Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian of course) seem to come from CC pickups.

True but...I think most of their sound comes from the fingers, and is also colored by the recording techniques. Midnight Blue was a Rudy Van Gelder recording and reflects among other things his judicious use of mic placement, space and reverb.

I'm not saying the pickup isn't important to the sound, but I really think KB could have gotten wonderful and probably similar results if he had recorded with a half-dozen different pickups.

From his interview in Vintage Guitar magazine:

"When I was in New York from 1958 to ’63, I did an average of six sessions a week. That’s a conservative estimate – I sometimes did two or three a day – at least 1,560. Those are just the sessions; my name was on maybe 10 percent of them. Usually, at a session we made four records. I’m not counting jazz records or my own albums. I was like a doctor, constantly on call. After ’63 it tapered off; I did less studio work and more of my own recordings. Still, I enjoyed the studio work; it made me feel I was good at my craft. But it did hurt in some ways because I didn’t have enough time to practice and concentrate on my music. That’s why I took the jobs in Bye, Bye Birdie and other shows. It was steady work and after a couple of weeks you hardly need to look at the music. It allowed time to practice, think conceptually, and write music for albums like Midnight Blue and Guitar Forms."

Wow!

[Toddep]

Kenny live at Catalina's this last summer w/super 400 thru a Twin reissue.. Super awesome

[Marty Grass]

Kenny live at Catalina's this last summer w/super 400 thru a Twin reissue.. Super awesome

I think he got his money's worth with that Super 400.

[Doctor Jeff]

I should say I am listening to Midnight Blue right now and his tone is freakin' awesome. So transparent and warm. I can see why people want to chase his tone.

[neatomic]

alfred lion, the owner of blue note records, fave ever release

cheers

[gggomez]

From the rare snippets I have heard of him live in the last 10 years his tone is very similar with a humbucker and I assume a maligned stock reissue amp as he did with CC pick ups and the original tweed amp.

[Doctor Jeff]

Here's Kenny playing a freakin' flattop, again showing it's all in the fingers. Ain't no pickup on that one...

Though halfway through he does switch over to the Super 400, which does provide a little more chime to his sound.

[Drumbler]

I can listen to Kenny Burrell all day.

[robertoart]

I can listen to Kenny Burrell all day.

Indeed! All Day Long and All Night Long.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

One of the last of his era, a giant!

[Burrellesque]

I haven't seen this shot before. It's from a Blue Note session with Jimmy Smith (possibly Midnight Special or Back at the Chicken Shack?).
It clearly shows a small narrow panel Fender tweed amp to Kenny's left. Could this be the famed RVG Tweed Deluxe?

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[wintermoon]

I haven't seen this shot before. It's from a Blue Note session with Jimmy Smith (possibly Midnight Special or Back at the Chicken Shack?).
It clearly shows a small narrow panel Fender tweed amp to Kenny's left. Could this be the famed RVG Tweed Deluxe?

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I'd say so....

[Greentone]

Here's a picture of Kenny Burrell's "Midnight Blue" Gibson L-5, equipped with a CC-pickup. It sounds ungodly good.

[neatomic]

Here's a picture of Kenny Burrell's "Midnight Blue" Gibson L-5, equipped with a CC-pickup. It sounds ungodly good.

yeah, based on burrell/turrentine pic i posted above ^..which is attributed to mb session..the L-5 was sunburst!...cc pup thru tweed fender deluxe sounds right to my ear..and that's an album i've loved & studied!!! tonewise!


cheers

[Burrellesque]

Here's a picture of Kenny Burrell's "Midnight Blue" Gibson L-5, equipped with a CC-pickup. It sounds ungodly good.

Indeed it does.

I met Kenny in the late 90's and of course asked him about the album, as probably many do. He just sort of brushed it off "Just another session - I always get asked about that album - just a blues album" sort of response. I think the later Guitar Forms is the album he would expect or like to be asked about.

It was very interesting to hear him talk about the 'Midnight Blue' session and the lead up to it in a recent interview video.

I've long been curious about the 'Freedom' album which was never released and contains material from the same recording session as Midnight Blue. It's available on vinyl only I believe. I have yet to track a copy down.

Even more amazing to imagine that he recorded the album in that snazzy jacket!

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[Greentone]

"Guitar Forms" is the first album with Kenny Burrell as leader that I listened to and owned. (I still have that vinyl copy.) It's quite a good record.