Biography Dave Burrell

Among the erudite, Dave Burrell is recognized as one of the (if not the) greatest jazz pianist of his generation. His reputation as one of the most incendiary performers of the late '60s free-jazz scene still attracts young fans to this day. (His LPs as a leader and with Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown, Archie Shepp, etc. are sought after collector’s items.)

But Burrell also has a equal following for his more recent works performing the great canon of American piano music (Ellington, Morton, Berlin, Carmichael, etc.). Called the Full-Blown Trio, to differentiate it as more explosive than Burrell’s other projects, the pianist is joined by bassist William Parker and drummer Andrew Cyrille, themselves both revered bandleaders and performers.

Despite massive appreciation for Burrell’s performance style and compositional ability, his discography doesn’t include any albums as the sole bandleader for a U.S. label since 1966. It’s a situation rectified by Expansion a massive recording by master musicians. Burrell calls the session, “My greatest recorded work.”

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