Kenny Burrell's 80th Birthday Concert at UCLA

If you’re going to be in Los Angeles next weekend you should try to catch legendary jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell’s 80th birthday bash concert at Royce Hall. B.B. King, Lalo Schifrin and Dee Dee Bridgewater will be joining him and it sounds like it’s going to be pretty cool. You can read about Kenny in this L. A. Times article about him.

From the UCLA website:

“For six decades, Kenny Burrell’s name has been synonymous with jazz guitar. And as the founder and director of UCLA’s Jazz Studies program, his name on campus is legendary. This special event celebrates the incredible life and career of this influential performer, composer, bandleader and producer in a one-night-only, all-star event featuring tribute performances from blues legend B.B. King (who cites Burrell as his “favorite guitarist”), multi-Grammy-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, pianist Lalo Schifrin and others. The night will feature on-stage collaborations between these artists as well as the world premieres of two new works. Backed by the UCLA Philharmonia, Burrell will perform a new composition by recent UCLA music department chair Dr. Roger Bourland. Also, Fantasy for Orchestra, a new piece written by world-renowned composer and UCLA faculty member Dr. Paul Chihara and based on Burrell’s own Prayer for Peace will be premiered. The night will also include the debut of a unique collaborative orchestral composition dedicated to World Peace with music by Patrick Williams, John Clayton, Bill Banfield, James Newton, Kenny Burrell and others. Additional performers include the award-winning UCLA Jazz Orchestra, directed by Charley Harrison, the Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Unlimited—L.A.’s new repertoire orchestra featuring many of the best musicians in Southern California—and one of Burrell’s favorite working groups, the Jazz Heritage All Stars, a legendary four-horn and four-rhythm Jazz tribute ensemble.”