JAZZ REVIEWS : Classy Playing From Burrell and Friends

You want a classic example of be-bop-based, straight-ahead jazz? Just listen to Kenny Burrell.

Burrell, one of the reigning monarchs of the guitar along with artists such as Jim Hall and Joe Pass, played with customary class in opening a three-night stand Thursday at the Jazz Bakery. He exhibited a gorgeous tone that was simultaneously dusky and gleaming, a sure-fingered rhythmic agility that found him always landing in the right place, and a sense for phrases that both rang sweetly in the ear, and gave the music a forward thrust.

Backed with panache by Dwight Dickerson (piano), Andy Simpkins (bass) and Sherman Ferguson (drums), Burrell mixed it up. There was Kirk Lightsey’s “Habiba,” which danced between Afro-Latin and Brazilian stances, and Blue Mitchell’s “Funji Mama”--underscored by a pulsating Caribbean beat. The rarely heard “No More” was delivered during a Billie Holiday medley, and Burrell played the acoustic guitar on J.J. Johnson’s “Lament.”

“Mama” offered a typical Burrell improvisation, as he played cleanly picked notes followed by juicy bursts where the tones seemed to run together. His ideas always seemed to climax with a rhythmic pop. On “Lament,” he played an acoustic instrument and portrayed sadness within stunning, subtle textures.

Dickerson’s solos included bluesy fragments and speedy swirls and Ferguson used his hands, not sticks, to highlight one improvisation.