1967 · Album
A Generation Ago Today
Recorded 1966–1967 · Verve · Produced by Unverified — omitted
Burrell Looks Back, Swings Forward
Burrell pays honest tribute to Charlie Christian without trying to be him — that restraint is the whole point.
Kenny Burrell had an interesting problem with A Generation Ago Today (1967): how do you honor Charlie Christian and the Benny Goodman Sextet without just making a nostalgia record? Christian essentially invented the vocabulary of modern jazz guitar in a handful of years before his death in 1942, and by the mid-1960s that vocabulary had become so absorbed into the instrument's DNA that revisiting it directly was a tricky proposition. Burrell threads this needle pretty well. He is not trying to replicate Christian's tone or attack — he brings his own warmer, more rounded approach to this material, which actually makes the album feel like a conversation with the past rather than a costume party.
The repertoire leans on the small-group swing staples that Christian and Goodman made famous — tunes built for a sextet format that breathes and grooves without a lot of clutter. Burrell sounds relaxed and confident throughout. These are not technically demanding performances designed to show off; they are well-played, unhurried readings of material that holds up on its own. The album was recorded across 1966 and 1967 and released on Verve, which at the time was doing a solid job of documenting mainstream jazz without pushing artists toward either commercial pop crossover or avant-garde experimentation.
This is not an essential Burrell record in the sense that Guitar Forms (1965) is essential. But it is a genuinely enjoyable one, and it serves a real purpose — reminding listeners where the electric guitar's place in jazz actually came from. If you already know Christian's work, this gives you a warm companion piece. If you don't, it might send you back to the source, which is probably the best outcome any tribute record can hope for.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Kenny Burrell
Introducing Kenny Burrell 1956
Midnight Blue 1963
Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane 1963
♫
Jazzmen: Detroit 1956
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
