Born in 1943 and raised in Indiana, Gary Burton taught himself to play the vibraphone, developing a unique approach that set a new standard for four-mallet playing. At the age of 17, he made his recording debut in Nashville, Tennessee, with guitarists Hank Garland and Chet Atkins. Two years later, Burton left his studies at Berklee College of Music to join George Shearing and subsequently Stan Getz, with whom he worked from 1964-1966. 

As a member of 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, and Down Beat magazine awarded Burton its Jazzman of the Year award in 1968. 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 1970s, 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 a 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 two Grammy Awards. 

Also in the 1970s, Burton began his career with Berklee College of Music in Boston. Burton began as a teacher of percussion and improvisation classes at Berklee in 1971. In 1985 he was named Dean of Curriculum. In 1989, he received an honorary doctorate of music from the college, and in 1996 he was appointed Executive Vice President. 

Burton recorded for GRP records in the 1980s and ’90s. In 1990, he paired up again with his former protŽgŽ Metheny for Reunion, which landed him the top spot on Billboard magazine’s jazz chart. Burton is now recording for Concord Records. Departure (Gary Burton & Friends) was released in 1997 by Concord Records as well as Native Sense, a collaboration with Chick Corea, which garnered a Grammy Award in 1998. Also in 1997, Burton recorded his second collection of tango music, Astor Piazzolla Reunion, featuring the top tango musicians of Argentina, followed by Libertango, another collection of Piazzolla music. His 1998 Concord release, Like Minds, featuring his frequent collaborators Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, and Dave Holland, was honored with a Grammy, Burton’s fifth. Gary’s vibraphone tribute CD, For Hamp, Red, Bags and Cal, will be released in March 2001 on Concord. 

For more information about Gary Burton, visit www.garyburton.com

PAS MEMBERS 

You can find the following in the PAS Publication Archives:

“Evolution of Mallet Techniques…1973” by Gary Burton: Percussionist, Vol. 10, No. 3, Spring 1973

“Gary Burton: The Innovators of the Vibraphone” by Rick Mattingly: Percussive Notes, Vol. 37, No. 5, October 1999