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Gary Burton

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Gary Burton is an American vibraphonist, composer and teacher, born on 23 January 1943 in Anderson, Indiana. He taught himself to play marimba and vibraphone, began piano lessons at the age of sixteen, and names the pianist Bill Evans as an inspiration for his approach. He studied briefly at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and, as a teenager in Nashville, made recordings with, among others, Hank Garland and Chet Atkins. He then toured with George Shearing, for whom he wrote the album Out of the Woods, and from 1964 to 1966 played with the saxophonist Stan Getz.

Music and breakthrough

In 1967 Burton formed the Gary Burton Quartet with the guitarist Larry Coryell, the drummer Roy Haynes and the bassist Steve Swallow. The first album, Duster, combined jazz, country and rock, before the fusion of the 1970s had broken loose. Records such as The Time Machine from 1966 also pointed in that direction. In 1968 he became the youngest ever DownBeat Jazzman of the Year, and in 1972 he won his first Grammy. In 1973 he began a collaboration with the pianist Chick Corea that lasted forty years and produced Crystal Silence. Together they made eight Grammy-winning albums and brought the jazz duo to wider attention as a form.

Influence

Burton developed his own way of holding four mallets, the Burton grip, with which he played the vibraphone like a piano. From 1971 to 2004 he taught at Berklee, in his last years as vice president. In 2017 he stopped performing after a farewell tour with Makoto Ozone.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Crystal Silence, the duo with Chick Corea, and notice how the vibraphone and the piano share chords and melody. Try to hear who plays the melody and who accompanies.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Artists