10 Easy Kenny Burrell Jazz Blues Licks For Beginners

Kenny Burrell

Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell (July 31, 1931) is a legendary jazz guitarist known for his smooth, soulful playing and bluesy tone.

He masterfully blends bebop with blues influences, making his style both sophisticated and accessible.

As a key figure in jazz, Burrell has played with iconic artists like Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane, and his recordings, such as Midnight Blue, are considered essential listening.

His music is a testament to the richness of jazz guitar, combining technical prowess with emotional depth.

He has played Gibson guitars (ES-175, super 400) for the majority of is career plugged into a Fender deluxe amp.

Midnight Blue

How smooth can jazz guitar get ? Right here is the answer. 

Midnight Blue (released in 1963 by blue note records and recorded by Rudy Van Gelder) is one of those records that you just put on, sit back and relaxis.

In this album Kenny Burrell is accompanied by the tenor-saxophonist Stanley Turrentine in a pianoless quintet that also includes Ray Barretto on congas (a highly regarded bandleader in his own right who injects a dash of Latin flavor), Major Holley on bass and Bill English on drums.

Midnight blue is considered one of the best recordings of Kenny Burrell's career.

1. Chitlins Con Carne (5:25)
2. Mule (6:53)
3. Soul Lament (2:39)
4. Midnight Blue (3:59)
5. Wavy Gravy (5:43)
6. Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You (4:21)
7. Saturday Night Blues (6:13)
8. Kenny’s Sound (4:39) 
9. K Twist (3:35) 

This album is very useful for basic call-and-response type blues phrasing, recommend for anyone trying to learn playing jazz blues on guitar.

Chitlins Con Carne

"Chitlins con carne" is a twelve bar blues in the key of C mixing blues and bossa nova spirit.

The following 10 jazz lines are based on the first degree (C7#9) of a C blues, it seems that you can try to replace this jazz lines in your guitar solo over the first degree of a blues.

Take a look below and you will see that unlike a basic blues progression the dominant 7th chords are replaced by ninth chords except the first degree that is replaced by a C dominant seventh sharp ninth chord (C7#9).

Classic blues progression /

C7 | % | % | % |

F7 | % | C7 | % | 

G7 | F7 | C7 | % | 

Chitlins con carne chord progression /

C7#9 | % | % | % |

F9 | % | C7#9 | % | 

G9 | F9 | C7#9 | % | 

Scales And Chords

C7#9 chord

This chord is built with :

• Root (C)
• Major third (E)
• Fifth (G)
• Minor seventh (Bb)
• Sharp ninth (D#)

Here are three common C7#9 guitar positions.

The last one (on the right) is used by Kenny Burrell in "Chitlins con carne", it has no root (C) and no major third (E).

C minor pentatonic scale

As its name implies the minor pentatonic scale contains five notes, it is mainly played by Kenny Burrell in Chitlins con carne over C7#9 :

• Root
• minor third
• perfect fourth (eleventh)
• perfect fifth
• minor seventh. 

That gives the following notes in the key of C : C-Eb-F-G-Bb.

What we can deduce is that the C minor pentatonic scale contains notes that belongs to the C7#9 chord : C is the root, Eb is the #9, F is the fifth and Bb the minor seventh of C7#9.

C minor blues scale

The minor blues scale contains the same notes as the minor pentatonic scale, including a passing tone (Flat fifth) also called "Blue note". It is made up with six notes : 

• Root 
• minor third  
• perfect fourth (or eleventh)  
• Flat fifth (blue note) 
• perfect fifth 
• minor seventh

We get this in the key of C :

C-Eb-F-Gb-G-Bb

Please note that there are three types of minor blues scales as explained in this lesson

10 Dominant Jazz Guitar Licks

Here are 10 jazz blues guitar lines for beginners transcribed from the "Chitlins con carne" guitar solo.

The aim of this lesson is to understand Kenny Burrell soloing approach over dominant 7th chords.

Try to memorize these short lines, transpose them in twelve keys and feel free to develop them by adding notes.

Lick # 1

In this first lick Kenny Burell played the C minor pentatonic scale over the C7#9.

Notice that the C minor pentatonic scale is made up of the following notes : C-Eb-F-G-Bb.

It starts with the fifth (G) and goes on with a triplet and two 1/4 bends on beats 3 & 4. You can hear a C7#9 in the second bar (b7-#9-5, root and major third are not strummed).

Lick # 2

C minor pentatonic again in this lick starting with the fifth (G).

Lick # 3

Descending C minor pentatonic scale starting with the major third.

Lick # 4

This one starts with with the flat fifth (Gb) also known as "blue note" which, is present in the C minor blues scale. C-Eb-F-Gb-G-Bb.

Lick # 5

Pretty easy...C minor pentatonic scale again

Lick # 6

2 triplets in this one on beat 3 and 4. Be sure to slide from below to approach the G (beat 2, bar 1).

Lick # 7

You have to play the major third (E) approached with a slide or a hammer-on.

Adding the major third to the minor pentatonic scale is common trick to improvise over dominant 7th chords in jazz and blues music.

Lick # 8

C minor pentatonic scale.

Lick # 9

As we saw in lick #7, you can add the major third (E) to the minor pentatonic scale.

You can also add another note that belongs to the major scale, this is the major sixth (A).

It can bring an interesting color to your jazz blues improvisations.

The chord in bar 2 is named C13, you can play it instead of the C7(#9).

Lick # 10

C minor pentatonic scale, C13 chord and major third.