Kenny Burrell

Burrell is a professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Kenny Burrell studied at Wayne State University, Cass Technical High School and Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are jazz, blues and soul. Charlie Christian is recorded as an influence. Employment is recorded with University of California, Los Angeles. Distinctions recorded are NEA Jazz Masters.

Burrell was born in Detroit in 1931, the youngest of six siblings. Three of his eldest sisters all died in childhood and his father, an auto mechanic, died when Burrell was only six years old. Both his parents played instruments, and he began playing guitar at the age of 12 after listening to Charlie Christian's recordings. During World War II, due to metal shortage, he abandoned the idea of becoming a saxophonist, and bought an acoustic guitar for $10. He was inspired to play jazz after listening to Oscar Moore, but it was Django Reinhardt who showed him "that you could get your own individuality on an instrument." He went on to study composition and theory with Louis Cabara and classical guitar with Joe Fava. While a student at Wayne State University, he made his recording debut as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1951, followed by the "Rose of Tangier"/"Ground Round" single recorded under his own name at Fortune Records in Detroit. While in college, Burrell founded the New World Music Society collective with fellow Detroit musicians Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Elvin Jones, and Yusef Lateef.

Burrell toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955 and then moved to New York City in 1956 with pianist Tommy Flanagan. Within months, Burrell had recorded his first album as leader for Blue Note and both he and Flanagan were sought after as sidemen and studio musicians, performing with singers Tony Bennett and Lena Horne and recording with Billie Holiday, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ammons, and Kenny Dorham, among others. From 1957 to 1959, Burrell occupied the former chair of Charlie Christian in Benny Goodman's band. Since his New York debut Burrell has had a prolific recording career, and critics have cited The Cats with John Coltrane in 1957, Midnight Blue with Stanley Turrentine in 1963, and Guitar Forms with arranger Gil Evans in 1965 as particular highlights. In 1978, he began teaching a course at UCLA called "Ellingtonia," examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington. Although the two never collaborated directly, Ellington called Burrell his "favorite guitar player," and Burrell has recorded a number of tributes to and interpretations of Ellington's works. Since 1996, Burrell has served as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA, mentoring such notable alumni as Gretchen Parlato and Kamasi Washington.

Early on in his career, Kenny Burrell's first wife was Dolores with whom he had two daughters.