# Revolutionary on the vibraphone: I realized that the audience that knew me was between 40 and 50 years old: Video, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2023/02/03/revolutionary-on-the-vibraphone-i-realized-that-the-audience-that-knew-me-was-between-40-and-50-years-old-video-photos/
- Published: 2023-02-03T00:02:12+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Gary Burton is one of the most important jazz musicians of the 20th century. With
his technique using four mallets, he revolutionized vibraphone playing – and he 
changed jazz. He was 17 when he released his first album, now the American is 80
years old.**

With his enthusiasm for the vibraphone, Gary Burton was isolated in Andersen, Indiana,
where he was born and raised – a blessing and a curse at the same time. Because 
on the one hand he had to teach himself the instrument – in the absence of a teacher.
On the other hand, there was no competition.

Word of the young talent spread as far away as Nashville, where country guitar star
Hank Garland was planning a jazz album that absolutely had to include a vibraphone–
Gary Burton’s first big opportunity. And he used them. The album “Jazz Winds From
a New Direction” was a hit and everyone wanted to know who the young man on the 
vibraphone was.

**Swing and Bossa nova**

The first record deal was not long in coming. Gary Burton was 17 and still in high
school when he went to New York to record his first album. A murmur went through
the jazz scene, not only because of his skillful improvisation and virtuosity, but
also because of his technique with four mallets, with which he could play harmonies
like a pianist.

He became a sought-after player, among others, with saxophonist Stan Getz, who at
the time was filling the big halls with his mixture of swing and bossa nova. Gary
Burton was by far the youngest in the band.

![Gary Burton | Berklee College of Music](https://i0.wp.com/college.berklee.edu/
sites/default/files/styles/scale_to_480px_width/public/d7/bcm/Gary%20Burton%20performs%
20at%20the%20Berklee%20Perf%20Center%20-%20CR_Phil%20Farnsworth.jpg?resize=640%2C426&
ssl=1)

The audience was also significantly older than himself. That made him thoughtful:“
I realized that the audience that knew me was between 40 and 50 years old,” Burton
said in an interview with YouTuber Rick Beato. “If I were 40, they would be 80. 
So I thought about how to reach out to people of my generation. Jazz was in a kind
of straight jacket, we all played the same 150 standards with harmonies based on
Broadway show melodies.”

Along with bassist Steve Swallow, who had a similar mindset and had also played 
with Stan Getz, he planned a line-up that, like the pop bands of the mid-’60s, included
all kinds of styles and musical forms.

With guitarist Larry Coryell, who came out of a rock band, and drummer Roy Haynes,
the venture was complete: the Gary Burton Quartet.

**Jazz history in a duet with Chick Corea**

Then another new idea emerged: Manfred Eicher, operator of the newly founded jazz
label ECM, had the vision of a duet album with Gary Burton and Chick Corea. Performing
in a duet without a rhythm section was still quite unusual in jazz in the early 
1970s. Burton and Corea were unsure but went for it. The result made jazz history:

Editorially recommended external content.

![Piano, vibes legends Corea, Burton will join forces - The Daily Gazette](https://
i0.wp.com/dailygazette.com/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/129935/0823_thucal_chick_mbh-
940x940.jpg?resize=640%2C640&ssl=1)

Gary Burton said: “We only played one track twice, all the others were first takes.
At the end of the afternoon we decided that we didn’t need the remaining two or 
three days that the studio was booked and flew home.”

The album “Crystal Silence” was the beginning of a long musical liaison, the two
performed together again and again.

**Sought-after lecturer**

Parallel to all activities, Gary Burton was also a sought-after lecturer at the 
renowned Berkeley College Of Music. He started there at the age of 28. In 2004, 
at the age of 61, he retired.

![Gary Burton, Author and Resurgent Jazz Musician - The New York Times](https://
i0.wp.com/static01.nyt.com/images/2013/08/25/arts/25BURTON_SPAN/25BURTON-superJumbo.
jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

“Someone who’s young should do that,” he explained. “You’re dealing with hotheads
between the ages of 18 and 20. I found it increasingly difficult to empathize with
her.”

He recorded his last album “Guided Tour” again with a quartet – now it was he who
was more than 20 years older than the other musicians.

A little later, in 2017, he announced that it was time for him to retire — with 
no fuss and with the dignity of a stable self-assessment.

![Der US-amerikanische Jazz-Vibrafonist Gary Burton spielt mit vier Schlägeln auf
seinem Instrument, ca. im Jahr 2000.](https://i0.wp.com/assets.deutschlandfunk.de/
7e1c1ebd-647d-4129-bba0-b2fdd231e4dc/1920x1080.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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