Biography
Since the mid-1960s pianist Dave Burrell has served as a dependable accompanist on multiple free jazz sessions headed by Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, and Marion Brown. His approach draws together the complete arc of jazz from Dixieland to free playing, yet he stands out most clearly as an inside/outside musician whose percussive, syncopated manner suits the dense rhythmic framework favored by tenorist David Murray, one of his most frequent employers.
Born in Connecticut, Burrell was raised in Hawaii, where both parents performed as singers. W. Royal Stokes reported that his mother once received an invitation to join the Delta Rhythm Boys, and a visit to the family home by singer Herb Jeffries first sparked Burrell’s interest in jazz. As a teenager he performed in the standard rock & roll band of the era. He enrolled at the University of Hawaii from 1958 to 1960 and completed his degree at Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1965, during which time he worked with Tony Williams and Sam Rivers.
After graduation Burrell moved to New York and assembled the Untraditional Jazz Improvisational Team with saxophonist Byard Lancaster, bassist Sirone, and drummer Bobby Kapp. He also associated with Marion Brown and Grachan Moncur, recording with Brown in 1966 and Moncur in 1969. In 1968 he co-founded the 360 Degree Music Experience alongside Moncur and drummer Beaver Harris. The following year he traveled to Algiers for a Pan-African Festival and taught in Harlem for the Community Thing Organization.
Burrell appeared on recordings with Sanders, Shepp, Alan Silva, and Sunny Murray at points during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the late 1970s he composed the uncommon jazz opera Windward Passages and documented sections of it as a soloist in 1979. During the 1980s and 1990s he developed a sustained collaboration with Murray, recording frequently with both the octet and the quartet; their duo projects include the 1997 Black Saint release Windward Passages, which features Burrell’s wife, singer Monika Larsson, on several tracks.
In the 2000s Burrell issued albums as a leader on various labels, among them the 2001 CIMP duo recording Recital with bassist Tyrone Brown, the 2004 High Two live set Expansion by the Full-Blown Trio with bassist William Parker and drummer Andrew Cyrille, the 2005 solo piano album Margy Pargy on Splasch, the 2006 Amulet live duo date Consequences with drummer Billy Martin of Medeski, Martin & Wood, and the 2006 High Two trio session Momentum featuring bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Guillermo E. Brown.
Born in Connecticut, Burrell was raised in Hawaii, where both parents performed as singers. W. Royal Stokes reported that his mother once received an invitation to join the Delta Rhythm Boys, and a visit to the family home by singer Herb Jeffries first sparked Burrell’s interest in jazz. As a teenager he performed in the standard rock & roll band of the era. He enrolled at the University of Hawaii from 1958 to 1960 and completed his degree at Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1965, during which time he worked with Tony Williams and Sam Rivers.
After graduation Burrell moved to New York and assembled the Untraditional Jazz Improvisational Team with saxophonist Byard Lancaster, bassist Sirone, and drummer Bobby Kapp. He also associated with Marion Brown and Grachan Moncur, recording with Brown in 1966 and Moncur in 1969. In 1968 he co-founded the 360 Degree Music Experience alongside Moncur and drummer Beaver Harris. The following year he traveled to Algiers for a Pan-African Festival and taught in Harlem for the Community Thing Organization.
Burrell appeared on recordings with Sanders, Shepp, Alan Silva, and Sunny Murray at points during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the late 1970s he composed the uncommon jazz opera Windward Passages and documented sections of it as a soloist in 1979. During the 1980s and 1990s he developed a sustained collaboration with Murray, recording frequently with both the octet and the quartet; their duo projects include the 1997 Black Saint release Windward Passages, which features Burrell’s wife, singer Monika Larsson, on several tracks.
In the 2000s Burrell issued albums as a leader on various labels, among them the 2001 CIMP duo recording Recital with bassist Tyrone Brown, the 2004 High Two live set Expansion by the Full-Blown Trio with bassist William Parker and drummer Andrew Cyrille, the 2005 solo piano album Margy Pargy on Splasch, the 2006 Amulet live duo date Consequences with drummer Billy Martin of Medeski, Martin & Wood, and the 2006 High Two trio session Momentum featuring bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Guillermo E. Brown.
Albums
