Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American retired jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. He developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be heralded as an innovator, and his sound and technique are widely imitated. He is also known for pioneering jazz fusion and popularizing the duet format in jazz, as well as being a major figure in music education from his 30 years teaching at the Berklee College of Music.
Biography Burton was born in Anderson, Indiana, United States. Beginning with music at six years old, he mostly taught himself to play the marimba and vibraphone. He began studying piano at age sixteen while finishing high school at Princeton Community High School in Princeton, Indiana (1956–60). He has cited jazz pianist Bill Evans as the inspiration for his approach to the vibraphone.
Burton attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1960–61, and the Stan Kenton Clinic at Indiana University in 1960. He studied with Herb Pomeroy and soon befriended composer and arranger Michael Gibbs. After establishing his career during the 1960s, he returned to join the staff of Berklee from 1971 to 2004, serving first as professor, then dean, and executive vice president, during his last decade at the college. In 1989, Burton received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee.
Early in his career, at the behest of Nashville saxophonist Boots Randolph, Burton moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and recorded with several musicians from the area, including guitarist Hank Garland, pianist Floyd Cramer, and guitarist Chet Atkins.
Burton toured the U.S. and Japan with pianist George Shearing. Shearing asked Burton to write a whole album of compositions for him which were released as Out of the Woods in 1965. Burton described the album in his autobiography, Learning to Listen, as his "most ambitious effort at composing and arranging". Burton played with saxophonist Stan Getz from 1964 to 1966. It was during this time that he appeared with the band in the movie Get Yourself a College Girl, playing "The Girl from Ipanema" with Astrud Gilberto. In 1967, he formed the Gary Burton Quartet with guitarist Larry Coryell, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Steve Swallow. Predating the jazz-rock fusion craze of the 1970s, the group's first album, Duster, combined jazz, country, and rock. However, some of Burton's previous albums (notably Tennessee Firebird and The Time Machine, both from 1966) had already shown his inclination toward such experimentation. After Coryell left the quartet in the late 1960s, Burton worked with guitarists Jerry Hahn, David Pritchard, Mick Goodrick, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Julian Lage.
Burton was named DownBeat magazine's Jazzman of the Year in 1968 (the youngest to receive that title) and won his first Grammy Award in 1972. The following year, Burton began a forty-year collaboration with pianist Chick Corea, recognized for popularizing the format of jazz duet performance. Their eight albums won Grammy Awards in 1979, 1981, 1997, 1999, 2009, and 2013.
Burton has played with a wide variety of jazz musicians, including Gato Barbieri, Carla Bley, Chick Corea, Peter Erskine, Stan Getz, Hank Garland, Stéphane Grappelli, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, B. B. King, Steve Lacy, Pat Metheny, Makoto Ozone, Tiger Okoshi, Astor Piazzolla, Tommy Smith, Ralph Towner, and Eberhard Weber.
Burton is known for his variation of traditional four-mallet grip which has come to be known as the "Burton grip", and is popular among jazz vibraphonists, as well as some concert marimbists, including Pius Cheung and Evelyn Glennie.
From 2004 to 2008, Burton hosted a weekly jazz radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio. In 2011, he released his first album for Mack Avenue Records, entitled Common Ground, featuring the New Gary Burton Quartet (with Julian Lage, Scott Colley, and Antonio Sánchez). In 2013, the group released Guided Tour, their second recording for Mack Avenue. Burton's autobiography, Learning to Listen, was published by Berklee Press in August 2013 and was voted "Jazz Book of the Year" by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Burton retired from performing in March 2017 following a farewell tour with pianist and longtime collaborator Makoto Ozone.
Personal life Burton is openly gay. He was married to Katherine Goldwyn in the early 1980s and has two children. He was in a homosexual relationship by the mid-1980s, and he came out publicly in a 1994 radio interview with Terry Gross. In 2013, he married Jonathan Chong in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Burton's current partner is Dustin Le.
Discography As leader/co-leader
Recording date Title Label Year released Notes 1961-07-06, -07 New Vibe Man in TownRCA1961 1962-09-14, -15 Who Is Gary Burton?RCA1963 1963-02-14, -20 1963-03-11 3 in JazzRCA1963 1963-08-14 – -16 Something's Coming!RCA1964 1964-12-21, -22 The Groovy Sound of MusicRCA1965 1966-04-05, -06 The Time MachineRCA1966 1966-09-19 – -21 Tennessee FirebirdRCA1967 1967-04-18 – -20 DusterRCA1967Quartet 1967-07 A Genuine Tong FuneralRCA1968 1967-08-15 – 17 Lofty Fake AnagramRCA1967 1968-02-23 Gary Burton Quartet in ConcertRCA1968Live 1968-09-24 – 27 Country Roads & Other PlacesRCA1969 1969-06-02 – -05 ThrobAtlantic1969 1969-11-04 Paris Encounter with Stéphane GrappelliAtlantic1972 1969-09-02 – -04, 1970-03-11 Good VibesAtlantic1970 1970-07-23 Gary Burton & Keith JarrettAtlantic1971 1971-06-02 Live in TokyoAtlantic1971 Live at Sankei Hall, Tokyo 1971-06-19, 1971-09-07 Alone at LastAtlantic1972 3 tracks from live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1972-11-06 Crystal Silence with Chick CoreaECM1973 1973-03-05, -06 The New QuartetECM1973 1973-06-25, -26 In The Public Interest with Mike GibbsPolydor1974 1973-12 Seven Songs for Quartet and Chamber OrchestraECM1974 1974-05-13, -14 Hotel Hello with Steve SwallowECM1975 1974-07-23, -24 Ring with Eberhard WeberECM1974 1974-07-26, -27 Matchbook with Ralph TownerECM1975 1975-12 Dreams So RealECM1976 1976-11 Passengers with Eberhard WeberECM1977 1978-01 Times SquareECM1978 1978-10-23 – -25 Duet with Chick CoreaECM1979 1979-10-28 In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979 with Chick CoreaECM1980Live at Limmathaus, Zürich 1980-06 Easy as PieECM1981 1981-01 Live in CannesJazz World1996Live at Palais des Festivals et des Congrès 1982-01 Picture ThisECM1982 1982-09 Lyric Suite for Sextet with Chick CoreaECM1983 1984-11 Real Life HitsECM1985 1985-05 Slide Show with Ralph TownerECM1986 1985-07-28 Gary Burton And The Berklee AllstarsJVC1986 1986-06 Whiz KidsECM1987 1986-07 The New Tango with Astor PiazzollaAtlantic1987 Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1988? Times Like TheseGRP1988 1989-05-06 – -10 Reunion with Pat Metheny, Will Lee, Peter Erskine, Mitchel FormanGRP1990 1990-03-29 Right Time, Right Place with Paul BleyGNP Crescendo1990 1991? Cool NightsGRP1991 1991-10-10, 1992-04-25 Six PackGRP1992 1993-05 It's Another Day with Rebecca ParrisGRP1994 1994-10-31, 1994-11-01 Face to Face with Makoto OzoneGRP1995 1994-11-08 Four Duke with Jay Leonhart, Joe Beck, Terry ClarkeLRC1995also released as Play the Music of Duke Ellington 1996-09-20 – -22 DepartureConcord Jazz1997 1996-12-02 – -05 Ástor Piazzolla Reunion: A Tango ExcursionConcord Jazz1998 1997-06 Native Sense - The New Duets with Chick CoreaStretch1997 1997-12-15 – -17 Like Minds with Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, and Dave HollandConcord Jazz1998 1999-01-20 – -24 Libertango: The Music of Ástor PiazzollaConcord Jazz2000 2000-05-11, -23, -24, 2000-06--03 For Hamp, Red, Bags, and CalConcord Jazz2001 2001-08-14, -15, 2001-10-14, -15 Virtuosi with Makoto OzoneConcord Jazz2002 2003-09-16 – -18GenerationsConcord Jazz2004 2004-11-08, -10 Next GenerationConcord Jazz2005 2007-06-10, -11 Quartet Live with Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow, Antonio SanchezConcord Jazz2009 Live at Yoshi's, Oakland, California 2007–05, 2007-07 The New Crystal Silence with Chick CoreaConcord Jazz2008[2CD] Live 2011? Common Ground Mack Avenue 2011 2012? Hot House with Chick CoreaConcord Jazz2012 2013-03-21 – -23 Time Thread with Makoto OzoneUniversal2013 2013? Guided TourMack Avenue 2013
Compilations Works (ECM, 1984)[LP] Collection (GRP, 1996) Take Another Look. A Career Retrospective (Mack Avenue, 2018)[5LP]
As a member The Nashville All-Stars After the Riot at Newport (RCA Victor, 1960)
Mack Avenue Superband Live from the Detroit Jazz Festival – 2013 (Mack Avenue, 2014) – live rec. 2013
As sideman With Thomas Clausen Café Noir (Intermusic, 1991) Flowers and Trees (MA Music, 1992)
With Hank Garland Jazz Winds from a New Direction (Columbia, 1961) – also released as Hank Garland & Gary Burton's Three-Four The Blues (CBS, 1961) The Unforgettable Guitar of Hank Garland (Columbia, 1962)
With Stan Getz Getz Au Go Go (Verve, 1964) – live Getz/Gilberto No. 2 (Verve, 1966) – live rec. 1964 The Stan Getz Quartet in Paris (Verve, 1967) – live rec. 1966 The Canadian Concert of Stan Getz (Can-Am, 1983) – rec. 1965 Nobody Else But Me (Verve, 1994) – rec. 1964
With George Shearing Jazz Concert (Capitol, 1963) – live Out of the Woods (Capitol, 1965) – rec. 1964 Rare Form! (Capitol, 1966) – live rec. 1963
With Eberhard Weber Fluid Rustle (ECM, 1979) Hommage à Eberhard Weber (ECM, 2015) – live
With others Chet Atkins, After the Riot at Newport with the Nashville Allstars (RCA, 1960) – live Bob Brookmeyer, Bob Brookmeyer and Friends (Columbia, 1965) Eric Clapton, Journeyman (Reprise, 1989) Bruce Cockburn, The Charity of Night (True North, 1996) Floyd Cramer, Last Date (RCA Victor, 1960) Eddie Daniels, Benny Rides Again (GRP, 1992) Tim Hardin, Tim Hardin 1 (Verve, 1966) Howard Jones, One to One (Elektra, 1986) Quincy Jones, Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (Mercury, 1964) k.d. lang, Ingénue (Sire, 1992) Livingston Taylor, There You Are Again (Coconut Bay, 2006) Jay Leonhart, Four Duke (Absolute Spain, 1995) Arif Mardin, Journey (Atlantic, 1974) Steve Swallow, Swallow (Xtra Watt, 1992) Jon Weber, Simple Complex (2nd Century Jazz, 2004)
Grammy Awards
|1972 |Alone at Last ||Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist
|1979 |Duet (with Chick Corea) |Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
|1982 |In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979 (with Chick Corea) |Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
|1998 |"Rhumbata", Native Sense (with Chick Corea) |Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo
|2000 |Like Minds (with Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes and Dave Holland) |Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
|2009 |The New Crystal Silence (with Chick Corea) |Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance
|2012 |Hot House (with Chick Corea) |Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo
See also Vibraphone List of vibraphonists
References
External links
, , Profile on Gary Burton at BBC Radio 3 Gary Burton interview at the NAMM Oral History Library (2008) Gary Burton interview at the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program "The Gary Burton Interview" by Rick Beato on YouTube