[.ca] Blues Common Ground

From Amazon.co.uk:
The reissue of Kenny Burrell's 1968 Blues: The Common Ground on CD is decidedly welcome, for it is one of the supremely dependable guitarist's finest albums. Backed for the most part by an all-star orchestra revelling in Don Sebesky's imaginative arrangements, Burrell fashions a series of outstanding performances as accessible as they are penetrating, thus fully bearing out the record's titular claim. Particular felicities include "Everydays", "Burning Spear" and the title track. There are also two superb quartet cuts with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Grady Tate and an exquisite solo exploration of "Were You There?". No extra tracks or takes were discovered, but the album is richly rewarding from start to finish, its varied and durable pleasures belying the modest playing time. Now Verve should reissue the equally distinguished Night Song that Burrell made shortly afterwards. --Richard Palmer

Chronique amazon.fr:
En grand spécialiste du blues, Kenny Burrell délivre, accompagné par une grande formation de cuivres, le message du douze mesures cadencé à la blue note, dans lequel on extrait la perle "Every Day I Have The Blues" ainsi que l'incontournable "See See Rider". C'est un blues parfois presque rural, mâtiné du son des années soixante. Il faut dire que le big-band composé des plus belles embouchures de l'époque balance diablement et aide à la propulsion du guitariste. L'ensemble sonne comme les musiques des feuilletons noirs américains, mais bien teinté de note bleue. La profondeur et le moelleux des accords, la recherche de la note juste ("Sausalito Nights") contrebalancés par la force pourtant légère du monstre cuivré, accompagnent les onze titres de l'album au nom évocateur: The Common Ground. Un terreau commun pour le jazz et le blues, superbement mélangés ici. --Jean-Michel Schlosser

not my kind of blues:
after buying kenny burrells midnight blue and blue bash and his playing on jimmy smith "six views of the blues" i thought this was a sure hit. i should have read the credits because i'am not a big fan of horns (trombones,reeds, etc) and this was not the bluesy laid back blues i was expecting. saying that, i was still marveled at this mans guitar playing. i like him more on the trio combos with the b-3.

More Gold from Verve's Vaults:
Start with that glorious "Midnight Blue" guitar of Kenny Burrell. Then throw in this rhythm section: Herbie Hancock on piano; Ron Carter on bass; Grady Tate on drums. A jazz all-star line-up. But wait--toss in six trumpets (including Thad Jones), six trombones (including Jimmy Cleveland and Al Watrous), two tubas, and Jerome Richardson on woodwinds and reeds. What do you have? Operatic overload? A musical mish-mash? No--what you have is one astonishing cd. The common ground, of course, is the blues--and somehow all these musicians, all these disparate instruments, meet successfully on this common ground. Burrell's guitar is never overshadowed by all the instrumentation. And all those accompaniests know precisely how to contribute to this boundary-stretching set. Never heard the blues this way? Well, that doesn't mean it's not the blues. The boys in the band moan, swing, rise through the registers, and Burrell's guitar floats and burns through it all. Arranger Don Sebesky's charts are always under control but wildly innovative. From track to track, you just don't know what to expect. But expect the kind of surprises that make you want to replay each cut before you move on to the next. This is an in-car cd. Or someplace where you won't allow anything to divert your attention. There's so much to hear, so much to amaze, so much to remind you that the blues is not this instrument or that instrument, not this player or that player, not always mean and lowdown.The blues is a state of mind, a state of heart. You can get to the blues from all sorts of different directions. The players here do just that. They get to the blues, create the blues, and find that common ground. F.Y.I.--this cd lists at $ and weighs in at only about 35 minutes. It's a straight set--no alternate takes, no false starts. So, a lot of your dollars per minute. That ratio stopped me from buying the cd the first couple of times I found it on-line or in music stores. Now, my only regret is that I didn't pick it up the first time I saw it. This is what jazz is supposed to be--new, exploratory, a different direction. Abstract? Not at all--this is as solid as the red clay of Georgia. Where else can you get all of that for $?

• Everydays
• Every Day (I Have the Blues)
• Preacher
• Angel Eyes
• Common Ground
• Were You There?
• Burning Spear
• Wonder Why
• Soulful Brothers
• See See Rider
• Sausalito Nights