The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Posts 1 to 18 of 18
  1. #1

    User Info Menu

    Kenny Burrell + Tommy Flanagan

    Young Kenny Burrell photo-kenny-burrell-tommy-flanagan-jpg

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

    User Info Menu

    Great find!

  4. #3

    User Info Menu

    He is certainly young there. Flanagan played in a band with Burrell when they were both teenagers in Detroit. He moved to NYC with Flanagan in 1956, when he was 25.

    Burrell recorded the great album with John Coltrane featuring Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb in March 1958. I don't think either had recorded with Coltrane prior to that--not sure how that session came about, but I imagine it might have been suggested by the label.

  5. #4

    User Info Menu

    That’s a great album, The Cats.

  6. #5

    User Info Menu

    There are two Coltrane/Burrell albums, right? The Cats (1957) and Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (1958).

  7. #6

    User Info Menu

    for the gear geeks [like me] that's a prewar Gibson ES-100 wCC pu, a budget version of the ES-150 that Christian played.
    Eddis Duran of the Vince Guaraldi trio played one also.

  8. #7

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    There are two Coltrane/Burrell albums, right? The Cats (1957) and Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (1958).
    You're right about that. I saw that it was released in 1959, but I believe recorded in '57. I don't think I've ever heard it in toto.

  9. #8

    User Info Menu

    I wish Kenny would do an autobiography. What stories he could tell and experiences he must have had - both in music and given the societal norms he lived through.

  10. #9

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by AlsoRan
    I wish Kenny would do an autobiography. What stories he could tell and experiences he must have had - both in music and given the societal norms he lived through.
    has anything been heard from him following the fundraiser controversy?

  11. #10

    User Info Menu

    Kenny was a major resource/contributor to a book someone was working on a book about the Detroit jazz scene. While I don't know what became of the book, I do recall that Kenny was instrumental in bringing other jazz players like Tommy Flanagan to NYC in the 1950s.

    Separately, I do know that Kenny was in Oscar Peterson's trio for a while, I think between Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis. Have any recordings of this group surfaced anywhere? It would be quite interesting to hear.

    John Galich

  12. #11

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by jmgalich
    Kenny was a major resource/contributor to a book someone was working on a book about the Detroit jazz scene. While I don't know what became of the book, I do recall that Kenny was instrumental in bringing other jazz players like Tommy Flanagan to NYC in the 1950s.

    Separately, I do know that Kenny was in Oscar Peterson's trio for a while, I think between Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis. Have any recordings of this group surfaced anywhere? It would be quite interesting to hear.

    John Galich
    Wiki says that Kenny and Tommy played in bands when they were teens in Detroit, and after Burrell toured with Peterson in '55 the pair moved to NYC, where he and Tommy were both sought-after sidemen. They lived with Kenny's aunt for awhile.

    Both these cats played with some incredible people--Miles, Oscar, Sonny. What an education they got!

  13. #12

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    There are two Coltrane/Burrell albums, right? The Cats (1957) and Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (1958).
    Yes. And both are well worth having.

  14. #13

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by jmgalich
    Kenny was a major resource/contributor to a book someone was working on a book about the Detroit jazz scene. While I don't know what became of the book, I do recall that Kenny was instrumental in bringing other jazz players like Tommy Flanagan to NYC in the 1950s.

    Separately, I do know that Kenny was in Oscar Peterson's trio for a while, I think between Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis. Have any recordings of this group surfaced anywhere? It would be quite interesting to hear.

    John Galich
    You can find them on OP's anthology albums. KB sounded great on everything but the ridiculously fast tempo tunes OP used to play. BK and herb Ellis (very underrated) could keep up with OP more than KB could.
    I still wonder why OP turned down Lenny Breau when he auditioned for OP's group.

  15. #14

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    has anything been heard from him following the fundraiser controversy?
    That was a mess, indeed! Every so often, I google his name and put in "2022" or "2021" for last year, and basically no updates are to be found. This growing old stuff is really no joke. Not only do you grow old, but everyone you love does, too. And we all have our battles.

    SMH!

  16. #15

    User Info Menu

    In case anyone is curious, this photo was taken in 1948 by a nightclub photographer named Bob Douglas at Andrew Sneed’s Club Three 666 in Detroit. Kenny Burrell would have been 16 or 17, and Tommy Flanagan was a year older.

  17. #16

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by jmgalich
    Kenny was a major resource/contributor to a book someone was working on a book about the Detroit jazz scene.
    That would be ‘Jazz from Detroit’ by Mark Stryker. It was published last year and it’s excellent.

  18. #17

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Otterfan
    In case anyone is curious, this photo was taken in 1948 by a nightclub photographer named Bob Douglas at Andrew Sneed’s Club Three 666 in Detroit. Kenny Burrell would have been 16 or 17, and Tommy Flanagan was a year older.
    Thank you. I spent some time searching photographs of tiki clubs, without success. But now I know.

  19. #18

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    has anything been heard from him following the fundraiser controversy?
    He wrote about the late vocalist Ernie Andrews for JazzTimes following his death in February 2022.
    Kenny Burrell Remembers Ernie Andrews - JazzTimes