Kenny Burrell (b. 1931) grew up in a family full of music. Both of his brothers were guitarists, his mother a pianist, and his father a banjoist. Starting at the age of twelve, he honed his craft with fellow student and friend Tommy Flanagan. Kenny has worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Hampton Hawes, Frank Foster and Thad Jones to name a few. He is a strong advocate of jazz education and continues to conduct workshops and clinics while maintaining his busy touring schedule.
Today's example is a lick you can use the next time you vamp over a minor chord. The line is in the key of C minor and uses a classic counter melody that might remind you of some old spy movie themes. Basically, in the first measure we have a minor chord with the fifth in the bass. In measure two, the fifth moves up to the flatted six and then to the natural sixth in the following measure. It's a great idea for adding motion to an otherwise static section of a tune.