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Abraham Burton

Abraham Burton - of Belizean descent, is a native of New York. His interest in music began its development at the High School of Music & Art, during which time he was awarded by Downbeat and McDonalds in their Combo Competitions. He later studied under the tutelage of the jazz great, Jackie McLean at the Hartt School of Music, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Music, graduating with honors.

Abraham's professional career as a musician was initiated with the legendary drummer Arthur Taylor. During his five years with "Taylor's Wailers" he recorded on "Mr. A.T." and "Live at the Village Vanguard" on Enja Records, touring throughout Europe and performing at notable New York clubs such as: The Village Vanguard, Sweet Basil, and Birdland.

Since his time, Abraham has developed a reputation as a veritable professional performing and/or recording with the most prestigious of musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Milt Jackson, Roy Hargrove, Louis Hayes, James Carter, Kenny Barron, and Jimmy Smith to name just a few.

He went on to form a band in '94 entitled "The Abraham Burton Quartet" which recorded "Closest to the Sun" and "The Magician" with Enja Records. The group's talent received worldwide acclaim, allowing them to tour and perform in countries such as Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Holland, Japan, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Virgin Islands. They have also been showcased at venues such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, The Moors Jazz Festival, and the Panasonic Jazz Festival.

Abraham's most recent recording entitled "Rawbone", is an independent project in collaboration with renowned drummer and friend, Eric McPherson. The band, under the name "Forbidden Fruit", features James Hurt on piano and Yosuke Inoue on bass. Recent reviews in the New York Times places them as formidable contenders in the contemporary jazz scene.

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6
Album Review

Jack Walrath: Live At Smalls

Read "Live At Smalls" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Live At Smalls is trumpeter Jack Walrath's vibrant exploration of contemporary jazz, showcasing his deft leadership and inventive compositions. He is surrounded by an ensemble of stellar musicians including tenor saxophonist Abraham Burton, pianist George Burton, acoustic bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Donald Edwards. The album opens with “Roadkill," one of the seven originals penned by Walrath. IIt rolls out with bristling vitality. The punningly titled “ A Bite In Tunisia" is wrapped up in an ...

23
Album Review

Bobby Kapp: Synergy

Read "Synergy" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The subtitle of Synergy is “Bobby Kapp plays the music of Richard Sussman," which is true to some extent. To be more precise, drummer Kapp is at the heart of a septet, conducted by Scott Reeves, that features composer Sussman at the piano. So, while “Bobby Kapp plays" is technically correct, it does not represent the whole picture. What is more, this is a group with a rather unusual front line of violin, clarinet, tenor sax and French ...

41
Album Review

The Burton/McPherson Trio: The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village

Read "The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The Burton/McPherson Trio consists of tenor saxophonist Abraham Burton, drummer Eric McPherson and bassist Dezron Douglas. Why it isn't called the Burton/McPherson/Douglas Trio is anyone's guess; the hope is that bassist Douglas' feelings weren't too badly hurt by the omission. He may have found solace in the outer jacket's addendum, “Featuring Dezron Douglas." In any case, this is the trio recorded live in June 2021 at Summit Rock in Seneca Village, an historic mostly African-American settlement in New York City's ...

1
Radio & Podcasts

Abraham Burton-Swingin' with Gratitude in Central Park

Read "Abraham Burton-Swingin' with Gratitude in Central Park" reviewed by David Bixler


Season five begins with saxophonist Abraham Burton. During the pandemic, photographer and engineer Jimmy Katz produced an informal concert series at the sight of the historically significant Seneca Village in Central Park. One of the concerts that Katz recorded was a trio performance featuring Burton, drummer Eric McPherson, and bassist Dezron Douglas. This energetic performance is available as The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village. This episode features music from  The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village. (Giant Step Arts) ...

30
Album Review

Louis Hayes: Crisis

Read "Crisis" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Louis Hayes--who has been a force in jazz drumming for more than sixty years, anchoring legendary groups led by Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Peterson, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, among others--has assembled a quintet of New York City's finest for Crisis, wherein he pays musical tribute to some of his jazz colleagues, past and present, including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Farrell, Lee Morgan, Bobby Hutcherson and two members of his working unit, vibraphonist Steve Nelson and bassist Dezron Douglas.

7
Album Review

Donald Edwards Quintet: The Color Of US Suite

Read "The Color Of US Suite" reviewed by Chris May


This is an album one really wants to love but ends up applauding more for its intention than its realisation. Drummer Donald Edwards has composed a suite which addresses the race hate which besmirches America and which, observed from the other side of the pond, seems to have become more bitter and entrenched with the passing years. On the opening “Little Hopes," a young girl identified as Sophia Edwards, possibly Edwards' daughter, relates with affecting simplicity her ...

288
Album Review

Abraham Burton - Eric McPherson Quartet: Cause And Effect

Read "Cause And Effect" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Obsessed fans of John Coltrane’s classic quartet are forever searching for that pure energy that Trane, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison and McCoy Tyner bottled for a short time. Their music was perhaps the pinnacle of jazz’s most dynamic period. Few have tread the same path for fear of comparison and ultimately failure. Enter Abraham Burton and Eric McPherson. The two young men play jazz music with no fear.

Born three months apart, Burton studied under Jackie McLean, and McPherson became ...

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108

Performance / Tour

Will Sellenraad & Root Down LIVE @ Detour feat: Victor Lewis, Abraham Burton, Gary Versace(fri), Gary Wang(sat)

Will Sellenraad & Root Down LIVE @ Detour feat: Victor Lewis, Abraham Burton, Gary Versace(fri), Gary Wang(sat)

Source: All About Jazz

get down... Friday, May 20th 9:30pm 1:30am Detour 349 East 13th Street @ 1st Ave. NYC :: 212.533.6212 ***Will Sellenraad & Root Down*** **Abraham Burton- saxophone** **Will Sellenraad- guitar** **Gary Versace- organ** **Victor Lewis- drums** *** Saturday, May 21st 9:30pm 1:30am Detour 349 East 13th Street @ 1st Ave. NYC :: 212.533.6212 ***Will Sellenraad & Root Down***

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Performance / Tour

Tonight NYC: Will Sellenraad & Root Down Feat: Abraham Burton

Tonight NYC: Will Sellenraad & Root Down Feat: Abraham Burton

Source: All About Jazz


Tristan Voitcu
saxophone, baritone

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Live At Smalls

Cellar Music Group
2024

buy

Exactly Right

Savant Records
2023

buy

Synergy

Self Produced
2023

buy

The Summit Rock...

Giant Step Arts
2022

buy

Crisis

Savant Records
2021

buy

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