The mallet work of jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton flows forth like water -- naturally, almost unobtrusively, seeking its own level as it nourishes and enriches everything around it.
On ballads, his resonant tone can be as gently hypnotic as a lake in repose, diaphanous in the sunlight. On mid-to-uptempo tunes, his phrases eddy and swirl like a stream in the spring, with a deceptively strong pull that's best appreciated when you immerse yourself and feel the current.
Because his demeanor matches his easygoing yet assertively organic approach to music, Burton was a successful educator at Boston's Berklee School of Music for 33 years, and has been an accomplished bandleader even longer. In fact there is some comic irony in Burton, now 67, dubbing his latest ensemble the New Gary Burton Quartet, given that "The New Quartet" was the title of an album he recorded back in 1973. But he already ranks the group -- which will perform Friday night at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival -- "among the top three" of the many ensembles he has led over 44 years.
"Unlike most of the groups I've had, this is a group of all-stars who lead their own bands," Burton said by phone from his home in Florida, speaking of guitarist Julian Lage, drummer Antonio Sanchez and bassist Scott Colley. What he modestly omits is that he's been instrumental in enhancing their reputations, especially Lage's.
Providing music education
Over his career, Burton has had a knack for unearthing sterling guitarists, with Pat Metheny, Larry Coryell and John Scofield all serving stints in his bands. More than a decade ago, he was watching a telecast of the Grammys and caught a group of preteens playing a three-minute medley to promote music education.
"It took me all of 20 seconds to know that Julian was the real thing. So I called up the show and found a way to contact his parents," Burton said. Lage began sitting in at the occasional low-key gig until he turned 15 and made his first recording with Burton.
The pair went their separate ways for a few years, with Lage finishing school and making his first album as a leader. But when Burton thought of creating a quartet last year, Lage was at the top of his list. The guitarist's delicate, open-ended style neatly dovetails with Burton's four-mallet phrasing, and his conceptual growth is showcased on a stirring, improvised intro to the standard "My Funny Valentine" that appears on the quartet's first record, the just-released "Common Ground."
The song, like much of the record, was crystallized in a period of mutual discovery when the quartet was booked for a solid week at New York's fabled Blue Note club last October. It convinced Burton he had something special.
"You never know how a combo is going to work until you try it," he said. "Even changing one player can change the whole balance. But a couple of factors quickly defined where we were headed. I encourage members of my band to write [songs] for the group. I'm lucky if one guy actually does; it is rare if everybody does, and very rare that I like everybody's writing." Burton laughed. "But that's what happened, and the writing seemed to fit the aesthetics of the players."
The group is equally adept at ballads, prancing bop tunes and arrangements that swing. The title cut, by Sanchez, is a waltz written to maximize the circular beauty of Burton's vibes.
After being away from each other for months, the New Gary Burton Quartet has embarked on a summer of outdoor festival gigs.
"There are different factors outdoors -- the wind, the bugs, how the audience is responding -- that we'll respond to," he said. "But it will be a mix of new and old material and everybody will be featured a lot. People always say, 'You don't play enough,' but I've always liked groups where everybody is important, sort of like a string quartet. As a leader, I prefer the bonding of a group."
Like common ground, watered just right.
