This Day in Music January 23, 1943 – Happy Birthday – Gary Burton!!
On this date in 1943, the great vibraphonist and one of my favorites Gary Burton was born in Anderson, Indiana. Whenever I have “One of those days” it’s usually Gary Burton’s vibes that calm and relax me. Here is some background information on Burton from Wikipedia: Beginning music at six years old, Burton for the most part taught himself to play marimba and vibraphone.[2] He also began studying piano at age sixteen as he finished high school in Princeton, Indiana (56–60). Burton has cited jazz pianist Bill Evans as a main inspiration for his approach toward the vibraphone. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated.[1] He is also known for pioneering fusion jazz and popularizing the duet format in jazz, as well as being a major figure in jazz education due to his 30 years at the Berklee College of Music Burton received the first of many awards in 1968 when Burton was named Down Beat magazine’s ‘Jazzman of the Year’ in 1968 (the youngest ever to receive the title) and won his first Grammy award in 1972. The following year Burton began a now 40-year-long collaboration with pianist Chick Corea,[4] recognized for popularizing the format of jazz duet performance. Their eight recordings together won the pair Grammy awards in years 1979, 1981, 1997, 1999, and most recently in 2009, for The New…
