JAZZ REVIEWS : Burrell Sticks to Basics at Bakery

Guitarist Kenny Burrell’s appearance Friday at the Jazz Bakery offered a reminder of just how much can be achieved creatively within the confines of a very basic trio--just himself, bass and drums.

This is the same instrumentation used by highly touted Mark Whitfield (see review below), but there is a significant difference. In Sherman Ferguson, Burrell has a drummer who knows the value of discretion, who will use brushes when the composition seems to call for them and whose solos never cross the border into ferocity.

Completing the group is Andy Simpkins, a bassist who has remained for many years a paradigm of individuality and ingenuity, whether in a supportive or individual role.

Most of Burrell’s tunes were standards, with a strong accent on Ellingtonia (for many years, he’s taught a UCLA class on Ellington).

In the course of Friday evening he used three guitars, concentrating mainly on the conventional electric type, but also employing two acoustic instruments.

Burrell has matured over a 40-year career to the point where his approach is unpredictable and can change according to the mood required. He played finger-style and plectrum-style, in rich chords or in single-note lines, using seductive melodic balladry or Latin rhythms or hard-driving bop.

A few of his own compositions added spice: “Remembering Wes,” a touching tribute to the late Wes Montgomery, and “Do What You Gotta Do,” in which he displayed his affinity for the spirit of the blues.

Reaching back to his earliest years, Burrell offered a rhythmically intriguing version of “Tin Tin Deo,” a composition by Dizzy Gillespie, with whom he made his recording debut in 1951.