Gary Burton, a jazz vibraphone player was born in Anderson, Indiana on 23 January 1943. He is best known for his innovative technique of using four mallets instead of the two. At the Berklee College of Music, he studied with Herb Pomeroy, and he also met Michael Gibbs (composer and arranger), with whom he collaborated often. Burton, who was 18 when he released his debut album in 1961, spent his early years playing with George Shearing, then with Stan Getz’s mid-sixties quartet that had no piano. He gathered like-minded musicians for an electric session that combined jazz elements with rock and Blues in the late sixties. A minority of jazz critics consider Burton’s album Duster, which he recorded with guitarist Larry Coryell and bassist Steve Swallow, the first jazz-rock Fusion album. It also features drummer Roy Haynes. This album predates Miles Davis’ In A Silent Way by two decades. He has recorded with Makoto Ozone, Chick Corea and Stephane Grappelli. Burton also led his own bands and was the first major jazz musician to include guitarist Pat Metheny. John Scofield, Ralph Towner and Mick Goodrick have all played guitar with Burton. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
