Description
Kenny Burrell Trio – A Night at the Vanguard – 180 Gram Yellow Vinyl Record
Kenny Burrell’s A Night at the Vanguard captures an unusually lean guitar trio in one of jazz’s most demanding rooms. Recorded at New York’s Village Vanguard in September 1959, the album places Burrell beside bassist Richard Davis and drummer Roy Haynes, with no piano or horn to soften the exposure. The result is direct, alert, and full of the conversational timing that makes a live trio record feel alive rather than merely documented.
Burrell’s language is rooted in blues phrasing, but his touch is too refined to be reduced to a single style. “All Night Long” establishes a supple swing, “I’m a Fool to Want You” shows how patiently he can shape a ballad, and “Trio” brings Erroll Garner’s tune into a spare setting where the guitar must supply both melody and harmonic color. His lines remain warm even when the tempo tightens.
Davis and Haynes are equal partners throughout. Davis gives the performances a deep, flexible center, while Haynes answers Burrell with crisp cymbal accents and finely judged bursts of momentum. That balance is especially satisfying on “Broadway” and “Soft Winds,” where familiar material becomes a vehicle for quick reactions rather than a routine run through standards.
Originally issued on Argo and later known under the alternate title Man at Work, this session has long been valued as one of Burrell’s clearest statements as a leader. It also preserves a distinctive moment in the Village Vanguard’s history: a small group working without excess arrangement, relying on tone, time, and shared instinct to hold the room.
This Verve By Request edition returns the original eight-track album to a limited 180-gram yellow vinyl pressing made at Third Man Pressing in Detroit. The colored vinyl distinguishes this exact edition, while the program keeps the concise original LP sequence intact from the opening blues through Thelonious Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t.”
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.