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Burton Greene
Burton Greene was born and spent his early years in Chicago, Illinois. He had seven years of classical music training with Isadore Buchalter of the Fine Arts Building. Burton studied jazz theory and harmony with Dick Marx, and continued his music education in the "School of the Streets" of the mid 1950's from such luminaries as Billy Green and Ira Sullivan. He arrived in New York in 1962 and formed probably the first spontaneous composition group with bassist Alan Silva in '63: The Free Form Improvisation Ensemble. He joined the Jazz Composers Guild in '64 (organized by Bill Dixon and Cecil Taylor) and formed his first recorded quartet in '65 which included Marion Brown and Henry Grimes. He performed in New York in the 1960's with such people as Sam Rivers, Rashied Ali, Albert Ayler, Patty Waters, Byard Lancaster, Gato Barbieri, etc. Burton was involved with the New Music Concert Series in Town Hall and YMHA organized by Max Pollikoff which included panel discussions with Morton Feldman and Earl Brown.
Burton moved to Europe in 1969—first to Paris and then to Amsterdam. Since that time he has toured and recorded extensively in both Western and Eastern Europe with occasional tours in America. Burton has recorded almost 100 records and CD's of his compositions in many and varied contexts. As an eclectic composer and performer, his works are involved with jazz, contemporary classics, electronics, and a great variety of folklore musics.
Burton has collaborated with many musicians; among them are John Tchicai, Johnny Dyani, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Willem Breuker, Han Bennink, Keshavan Maslak, Sunny Murray, Steve Tintweiss, Shelly Rusten, Frank Wright, Sean Bergin, Paul Stocker, Theo Loevendie, Maarten van Regteren Altena, Martin van Duynhoven, Clarence Becton, Perry Robinson, Roswell Rudd, Tjitze Vogel, Raoul van der Weide, Tom Jones, Tobias Delius, Michael Moore, Akki Hak, Lou Grassi, Wilber Morris, Roy Campbell, Mark Dresser, Adam Lane, Paul Smoker, Russ Nolan, Ed and George Schuller etc., etc.
In recent years Burton has been working and recording again with legendary vocalist Patty Waters, with Roberto Haliffi (Burton's main percussionist for many years), Adam Lane, Igal Foni, Reut Regev, Dave Brandt, Renato Ferreira, Silke Röllig, Tilo Baumheier, Gert Jan Prins, Bálazs Pándi, Guillaume Gargaud, and just recently Jasper Stadhouders.
Marion Brown: Three For Shepp To Gesprachsfetzen Revisited
by Alberto Bazzurro
Tre brani di Marion Brown e altrettanti di Archie Shepp compongono il primo dei due album riuniti, come sempre meritoriamente, in questo CD, provenendo da quello che rappresenta il debutto dell'altosassofonista georgiano su Impulse!, inciso il 1° dicembre 1966 (dopo un paio di ESP e un Fontana) e pubblicato l'anno seguente. La stessa Impulse!, come già aveva fatto con lo stesso Shepp riferendolo a Coltrane per Four for Trane, ricicla per l'occasione la stessa formula riferendo Brown al collega di ...
Continue ReadingMarion Brown: Three For Shepp To Gesprachsfetzen Revisited
by Mark Corroto
It's not too late to catch up with alto saxophonist and composer Marion Brown. Thanks to this excellent reissue and remaster series, you can hear the innovative recordings from this master musician. This release follows his 1965/66 discs Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee Revisited (ezz-thetics, 2019) and 1966/67 discs Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited (ezz-thetics, 2020). Chris May's excellent liner notes posit an answer to Brown's relative obscurity. He essentially lays the blame on marketing. Record labels and ...
Continue ReadingMarion Brown: Three For Shepp To Gesprachsfetzen Revisited
by Chris May
"It is often those we hear the least that we should listen to the most." So wrote the Guadeloupean pianist Jonathan Jurion on the release of his album Le Temps Fou: The Music Of Marion Brown (Komos, 2019). Just why Marion Brown has become such a rarely acknowledged figure is unclear. He possessed all the qualifications needed to go large plus a few extras for good measure. He was a good-looking man. He dressed well (telling Dave ...
Continue ReadingSpinifex, Greene / Smith / Moses & Devin Brahja Waldman Ra Kalam Bob Moses
by Maurice Hogue
This edition of One Man's Jazz tends to a lot of music out on the edge, starting with a tune from a 2019 release called Life's Intense Mystery by Burton Greene, Damon Smith & Bob Moses, before heading to the powerful and unpredictable band from Amsterdam, Spinifex; they've added singers to the mix on their latest. After that check out the sounds of the Blue Lines Trio, also from Amsterdam, Peter Van Huffel's Gorilla Mask, the Chicago guitar/bass duo of ...
Continue ReadingBurton Greene: From Bomb To Balm
by Barbara Ina Frenz
Chicago-born pianist Narada Burton Greene (b.1937) can be called a veteran of the 1960s jazz avant-gardethe starting point of his universal musical life. In 1962, he moved to New York and founded, together with bassist Alan Silva, the Free Form Improvisational Ensemble, which played improvised music without preconceived compositional elements. In 1965, he became a member of the Jazz Composers Guild, founded by Bill Dixon and Cecil Taylor. The Jazz Composers Guild resonated with the community spirit that Greene had ...
Continue ReadingBurton Greene / Damon Smith / Ra Kalam Bob Moses: Life’s Intense Mystery
by Mark Corroto
Let's give credit to whomever assembled this swinging free-improvisation trio. Sometimes, no, invariably, all great improvised music results from the reciprocal nature of the musicians: not something done in response to another (although it can be) but by some subconscious agreement made by the players. A fine example is Life's Intense Mystery by the trio of pianist Burton Greene, bassist Damon Smith and drummer Ra Kalam Bob Moses. Although the bassist recorded with Moses on Astral Plane Crash ...
Continue ReadingNarada Burton Greene: Live at Kerrytown House
by John Sharpe
Does the world need yet another solo piano album? Well if they are all as enjoyable as this then there would be no doubt as to the answer. Live At Kerrytown House captures veteran pianist Narada Burton Greene in pristine clarity on a well-tuned instrument, for an intimate set from Ann Arbor in 2010. Even though Greene came of age with the likes of saxophonists Marion Brown, Gato Barbieri and Albert Ayler in the 1960s, this set belies his avant-garde ...
Continue ReadingA Rare Sighting Of Burton Greene At Outpost 186 In Cambridge MA
Source:
Chris Rich
Outpost 186 is very pleased to present Burton Greene on tour with his latest composition Variations on the Hungarian Folk Songs of Bela Bartok" and featuring a documentary film about his life and music called “Moldavian Blues” by the English film maker Malcolm Hart. The film will precede the concert. The film Moldavian Blues tells the story of how Jazz Pianist Burton Greene evolved from the pursuit of the American idiom to a more pressing awareness of his own Jewish ...
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Burton Greene - Live at the Woodstock Playhouse 1965 (Porter)
Source:
Master of a Small House
Woodstock was a creative refuge well before the music festival that bore its name signaled a culmination of counter-culture sensibilities. Pianist Burton Greene was among a number of jazz musicians who made the area a second home in the mid-Sixties. Separated from daily grind of city-living they were able to develop and express their music largely independent of distracting stressors. Part of the process included live performance and fortunately the tape machines were often rolling. This set by Greene's working ...
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Burton Greene Concert Tour USA February 2010
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
Burton Greene concert tour in the USA in February, 2010 Feb. 10 Trio concert with Ed Schuller and Perry Robinson at Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia St., NYC. 8:30 PM Feb. 13 Trio with Ed and George Schuller at Bean Runner Cafe in Peekskill, NY, 201 S. Division St. 7:30 PM Feb. 16 Trio with Ed and George Schuller at Korzo, 657 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 9:30 PM http://www.eurotripbrooklyn.com/ Feb. 19 Solo piano concert: WMUA World of Piano series in ...
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Burton Greene (Mon) Marcus Rojas's Big Happy (Tue) Sanda & the New Gang (Wed) Paul Shapiro's Ribs and Brisket Revue (Thu) This Week at Cornelia Street
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
This Week At Cornelia Street Cafe Mon Jul 02 6:00PM BURTON GREENE TRIO (George Schuller, drums;Ed Schuller, bass;Burton Greene, piano) This is a new group, although the players know each other and have been friends for years. The idea of the piano trio is to present jazz which emcompasses a wide history of the jazz piano literature. We play inside", outside", up and down", for that matter.. The group members have vast experiences in all kinds ...
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Burton Greene Trio at Cornelia Street Cafe, January 7, 8:30 PM
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
CORNELIA STREET CAFE 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, New York 212-989-9319 between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, V, F to West 4th St. Burton Greene Trio Sunday, Jan 7, 2007, 8:30PM, $10 + $6 minimum featuring Ed Schuller, bass; George Schuller, drums; and special guest Russ Nolan, soprano and tenor sax This is a new group, although the players know each ...
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Friday, June 15, 2012 Narada Burton Greene, Live At Kerrytown House: NoBusiness Records, 2012 On Live at Kerrytown House, the music is thematic, tends to be quiet, slightly explosive, adhering to Greene’s sense of humor, lyricism and even romantic melody. He does not play without minor improvisational discords and cantankerous fingerings. For it is with these juxtapositions that Greene maintains the utmost integrity and musicianship. He has collaborated with and arranged compositions by associates, including longtime colleague Silke Röllig. With Röllig, he has created some of the most evocative contemporary piano music that there is… The miracle of Greene’s music is its never-ending luster