The vibraphone is a curious instrument, peched somehwere between electric and acoustic, and nobody has explored and embodied that tension more than Gary Burton. Building his name and repetroire between the fusion and post-bop eras of jazz, Burton as much as any jazz figure forged a bridge between the two worlds. His style is at once powerfully rhythmic and delicately lyrical, creating a middle road for contemporary jazz fruitfully travelled by Burton and proteges such as Pat Metheny.
(Bonus Pride Week factlet: Burton was also one of the first openly gay musicians among A-list jazzsters.)
Burton's approach is still distinctive and delightful, as evidence by his performance Saturday as part of the Stanford Jazz Festival. Appearing in one of his favorite formations, a guitar-fueled quartet, Burton puton a display of virtuoso technique, and lyrical imagination. Working off Bay Area guitar phenomenon Julian Lage -- formerly a child prodigy and now just an all-around beast of jaw-dropping technique -- Burton ambled through a mix of new tunes and standards with a style that never valued precision over passion.
The performer can do quick runs and fills like nobody's business, but he was at his best in more restrained moments, subtly shaping chords to add depth and emotion to a majestic exploration of "My Funny Valentine" and a haunting rendition "Last Snow," a gorgeous number from Burton's new CD, "Common Ground."
One of Burton's biggest innovations has been a four-mallet style that allows him to approach the vibes more like a piano player, shaping distinct chords. Certainly no other vibist can vamp the way Burton does, providing a strong but gentle rhythmic background when it's somebody else's turn to solo.
Nowadays, that would be Lage, who was nothing less than stunning Saturday. It may well be impossible not to make people think of Pat Metheny when playing with Burton, but Lage was very much his own man, stepping off into melodic journeys that seemed more like full-formed stories than solos, including an epic improvisation on Monk's "Light Blue." One could argue that "originality" consists more of how a great artists combines and wears his influences, and Lage is indeed building a truly original sound. At times he echoes Django, Metheny, Wes Montogomery or Grant Green, but don't even try to pin him down for more than a few bars of melody.
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