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.
- Chitlins Con Carne (5:25)
- Mule (6:53)
- Soul Lament (2:39)
- Midnight Blue (3:59)
- Wavy Gravy (5:43)
- Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You (4:21)
- Saturday Night Blues (6:13)
- Kenny’s Sound (4:39)
- 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.
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
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.
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Kenny Burrell transcriptions Kenny Burrell licks Kenny burrell lesson Kenny Burrell tabs jazz guitar lesson Midnight blue Kenny Burrell Chitlins con carne transcriptions dominant 7th guitar licks C7#9
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Pentatonic scales are scales with five notes per octave. They are frequently used in music all over the world. The word "pentatonic" comes from the Greek word "pente" meaning five and "tonic" meaning tone.
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