Burton Greene

Friday, June 15, 2012 Narada Burton Greene, Live At Kerrytown House: NoBusiness Records, 2012 On Live at Kerrytown House, the music is thematic, tends to be quiet, slightly explosive, adhering to Greene’s sense of humor, lyricism and even romantic melody. He does not play without minor improvisational discords and cantankerous fingerings. For it is with these juxtapositions that Greene maintains the utmost integrity and musicianship. He has collaborated with and arranged compositions by associates, including longtime colleague Silke Röllig. With Röllig, he has created some of the most evocative contemporary piano music that there is… The miracle of Greene’s music is its never-ending luster. Not one piece in this performance eludes its brightness or demonstrates lack of respect for the instrument he plays… The sage that he is, as his Yogic name Narada indicates, Burton Greene embraces an essential cultural core in his music. He never flounders and always is pondering the next step, whether that be for a solo or group context. Coming out of a meditative state of solitude or the conviviality of others, Greene is giving us his truth of self.

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Friday, June 15, 2012 Narada Burton Greene, Live At Kerrytown House: NoBusiness Records, 2012 On Live at Kerrytown House, the music is thematic, tends to be quiet, slightly explosive, adhering to Greene’s sense of humor, lyricism and even romantic melody. He does not play without minor improvisational discords and cantankerous fingerings. For it is with these juxtapositions that Greene maintains the utmost integrity and musicianship. He has collaborated with and arranged compositions by associates, including longtime colleague Silke Röllig. With Röllig, he has created some of the most evocative contemporary piano music that there is… The miracle of Greene’s music is its never-ending luster. Not one piece in this performance eludes its brightness or demonstrates lack of respect for the instrument he plays… The sage that he is, as his Yogic name Narada indicates, Burton Greene embraces an essential cultural core in his music. He never flounders and always is pondering the next step, whether that be for a solo or group context. Coming out of a meditative state of solitude or the conviviality of others, Greene is giving us his truth of self.

Burton Greene - LIVE AT GRASLAND: For those who have never listened to Greene's amazing solo keyboard work before, this will be a novel experience. Stylistically, he is definitely jazz, free-form, & o-u-t... by the same token, though, he sounds like Mozart in (many) places. Masterful touch & playful spirit combine to express joy for the player as well as the listener. This is "not" jazz, & it's "not" classical, per se... it is BURTON GREENE's piano, & there is no "in between". Improvijazzation Nation Review by Rotcod Zzaj of BG solo CD on Drimala Records

On Live at Kerrytown House, the music is thematic, tends to be quiet, slightly explosive, adhering to Greene’s sense of humor, lyricism and even romantic melody. He does not play without minor improvisational discords and cantankerous fingerings. For it is with these juxtapositions that Greene maintains the utmost integrity and musicianship. He has collaborated with and arranged compositions by associates, including longtime colleague Silke Röllig. With Röllig, he has created some of the most evocative contemporary piano music that there is… The miracle of Greene’s music is its never-ending luster. Not one piece in this performance eludes its brightness or demonstrates lack of respect for the instrument he plays.

Listening to Live at the Kerrytown House, a solo piano performance recorded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA in 2010, you can immediately hear this original voice. 75-year-old Greene, who has become a legend in the meantime, is able to draw on abundant musical resources ranging from his bebop beginnings in the 1950s to free jazz and classical music like Bela Bartok up to klezmer music and almost balladesque melodies reminding of Keith Jarrett’s solo performances... Burton Greene once claimed that playing freely also includes playing cadenzas. “Tree”, for example, is built around a central harmonic trunk from which lyrical and lush melodic lines rise like branches and twigs. They are sometimes jubilantly dissonant and incline to getting out of hand but in the end they always return to the trunk. This is where the album is pure joy. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_June 3, 2012 By Martin Schray

“Basically, the entire recording resembles the way the most dynamic abstract visual art can dazzle the seasoned viewer; Jackson Pollock comes to mind. The swirling musical lines and blatant sound colors are woven together easily and rest comfortably together. Greene evokes ever- changing moods and can sometimes trigger breathlessness in the listener.” Lyn Horton review in All About Jazz (2006) “Retrospective 1961-2005: Solo Piano, Burton Greene | CIMP Records

“Pigeonholing any kind of music puts it into a “box.” The composition-less “free communications music” that Greene and his fellow comrades were committed to, threw open the lid of that box and let the music flow, not from a belligerent standpoint, but with tolerance for other forms of improvisation and jazz. For Greene, all music is a part of an egoless universal scene and forms a primary method of survival for us on the planet… This music comes through as though it were recorded yesterday for today's audiences. And, indeed, it was.” Lyn Horton: review of reissue of “Bloom In the Commune” recording (1966) on ESP Records in 2008.

“Bottom line is: Greene’s breadth of scope and expansive mode of attack yields an irrefutably divergent mix… In sum, this is one of those jazz piano solo endeavors that impart an unwavering impression, where virtuoso-like technique and cunning execution coexist in radiant splendor.” – Glenn Astarita: Adminon CD Review: Burton Greene Retrospective 1961-2005: Solo Piano January, 2007

“Burton Greene was and is a pioneering pianist of the music. He coaxes all kinds of sounds out of the piano, getting inside it and playing it like a harp, percussively assaulting it with a two-fisted heartiness, quieting down for a lyrical moment.” GAPPLEGATE.COM review of “Bloom In the Commune”. “..A tale of wandering came forth from the music; it evoked the sense of walking over distances and occasionally coming upon oases where birds or water might break the monotony of skimming the surface of sand. "Desert Wanderers" metaphorically raised the question of what we, as human beings, are searching for, if anything at all.” Lyn Horton Review of Burton Greene/ Perry Robinson Duo Concert at Outpost 186, Cambridge, MA April,09 “Greene displays a superior talent characterized by maturity, deep feeling, and considerable technical skill. Brothers George Schuller and Ed Schuller are good choices to round out the trio, as George explodes on the opener and again on “Burkina Faso Swing” with rousing improvisations, with Ed adding a solid undercurrent throughout. They are in near-perfect synchronicity.” Steven Loewy review of “Ins & Outs” CIMP CD in All Music Guide, April 2007 “This is a remarkable capturing of these compatible three propelling without compromise the wit and passions of Burton Greene on a program of fresh, mostly original music. As the Producer's Notes proclaim, "This is Burton for the ages." Downtown Music Review of Burton Greene Trio CD “Ins & Outs” with Ed and George Schuller “Greene retains his fiery, pyrotechnic pianism, though he imbues the performance with a sense of elegance, a refined approach where he makes the notes count, whether lushly harmonic or cuttingly vibrant.” Troy Collins review of Burton Greene Quintet CIMP CD “Signs of the Times” Signal to Noise Magazine, Nov. 2006. “Free jazz pioneer pianist Burton Greene and trumpeter Roy Campbell front this deeply satisfying CIMP release. The disc has an eclectic feel, striking a nearly ideal balance between free improvisation and more structured jazz, while also drawing on some notable world music influences.” Derek Taylor review of Burton Greene / Roy Campbell Quartet: “Isms Out” CD in All About Jazz, 2005 “Greene sounds great as well, foraging over the finely tuned ivories with a self-assurance and acuity ideally suited to the auspicious surroundings. Together the two (Mark Dresser) invest the music with luxuriant swathes of emotion from quiet contemplation leavened with melancholy to vibrantly joyous frivolity.” Derek Taylor in All About Jazz: “Peace Beyond Conflict” CIMP CD: Duo with Mark Dresser Narada Burton Greene, Live at Kerrytown House Narada Burton Greene has been a part of the new improvisation music scene for so many years, he has been such a singular presence within it, he practically has become an institution of one. The Burton Greene of today is flourishing, a pianist-composer-improviser of many facets, a creator who thrives in his embodiment of tradition and change, freedom and structure, the past and the future. Or so it seems to me as I listen to his solo performance Live at Kerrytown House (No Business NBCD 39). Maestro Greene is like a coral island, each piece of what it is to be Burton Greene remains, the earlier conjoining with successive waves of later developments, nothing left behind but everything coming to bear on the present now of what he plays today. So on this solo set you hear some of the "free" elements of early Greene, the more composed avant elements, the expressively improvised tonalities, melodic originality, harmonic movement, a hint of stride and bop, all a part of who Burton Greene is today. gapplegate music review tuesday, july 17, 2012

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