Preview- Jazz Vibraphonist, Gary Burton and his New Quartet Come to Seattle's Jazz Alley for Two Exciting Performances on October 4th and 5th, 2011

New Gary Burton Quartet to Appear at Jazz Alley, www.jazzalley.com, Seattle, Wa., October 4th and 5th, 2011.

By E. Joyce Glasgow

Gary Burton, an icon of the jazz vibraphone for almost fifty years, will make a rare appearance in Seattle with three superb musicians; Julian Lage (guitar), Scott Colley (bass) and Antonio Sanchez (drums) in what promises to be two exciting evenings of uplifting, energized jazz. Burton, a multi- Grammy Award winner is also a composer, educator and mentor to many musicians and has collaborated with some of the greats of jazz, including Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Ralph Towner, Chick Corea, Steve Swallow, Richard Galliano and Makoto Ozone. The New Gary Burton Quartet, who began playing together, as a group, in August 2010, is touring performing music from their 2011 CD release, Common Ground. www.garyburton.com

Burton's playing is beautiful, lyrical, elegant, joyful and sublime. Don't miss this!

Following are two youtube videos. One is The New Gary Burton Quartet, playing Afro Blue in Vienna. The other is a brief video of Gary Burton talking about his New Quartet.

Also included here is Jazz Alley's information about Gary Burton's two night appearance this week.

Gary Burton Quartet featuring Julian Lage, Scott Colley and Antonio Sanchez October 4-5, 2011 $26.50 Make a reservation for this show. The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents The Gary Burton Quartet featuring Gary Burton (vibes), Julian Lage (guitar), Scott Colley (bass)) and Antonio Sanchez (drums). Set times on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm Tuesday and 5:30pm Wednesday. As a member of Stan Getz’s quartet, Burton won Down Beat magazine’s Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition award in 1965. By the time he left Getz to form his own quartet in 1967, Burton had also recorded three albums under his name for RCA. Borrowing rhythms and sonorities from rock music, while maintaining jazz’s emphasis on improvisation and harmonic complexity, Burton’s first quartet attracted large audiences from both sides of the jazz-rock spectrum. Such albums as Duster and Lofty Fake Anagram established Burton and his band as progenitors of the jazz fusion phenomenon. Burton’s burgeoning popularity was quickly validated by Down Beat magazine, which awarded him its Jazzman of the Year award in 1968, the youngest ever to receive that honor. During his subsequent association with the ECM label (1973-1988) the Burton Quartet expanded to include the young Pat Metheny on guitar, and the band began to explore a repertoire of modern compositions. In the ’70s, Burton also began to focus on more intimate contexts for his music. His 1971 album Alone at Last, a solo vibraphone concert recorded at the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival, was honored with his first Grammy Award. Burton also turned to the rarely heard duo format, recording with bassist Steve Swallow, guitarist Ralph Towner, and most notably with pianist Chick Corea, thus cementing a long personal and professional relationship that has garnered an additional four Grammy Awards. In the past few years, Gary has focused his recording and performing efforts on collaborations, with old friends and new, including tours and recordings with Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Makoto Ozone, Polo Orti, and Richard Galliano. Armistad Suite with Polo Orti and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra was released in spring 2007. L’hymne a L’amour with Richard Galliano was released on the Camjazz label in August 2007. The double-CD live concert recording with Chick Corea, The New Crystal Silence, came out in 2008, resulting in the sixth Grammy for Gary Burton at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Chick and Gary toured full-time from September 2006 through spring 2008, and continued off and on playing concerts in the USA and Europe in 2009. June 2011 saw the release of Common Ground, Gary's first release on Mack Avenue Records featuring the New Gary Burton Quartet. The new group reunites the vibist with guitar star Julian Lage with the addition of drummer Antonio Sanchez and bassist Scott Colley. The group will be busy touring throughout 2011. Gary Burton Website Julian Lage Website Scott Colley Website Antonio Sanchez Website