George Burton featuring Tim Warfield, Jason Palmer, Pablo Menares, Wayne Smith Jr.
For more than a decade, the young pianist, composer and bandleader George Burton has been on the radar of anyone who keeps up with innovations in jazz. Praised as “formidable” by NPR, and “charismatic” by The New York Times, Burton’s dazzling virtuosity and breathtakingly eclectic approach to music reflect his experience in every aspect of the jazz spectrum: beginning with rigorous classical training, branching into his equally rigorous experience in the heady nightlife of the Philadelphia jazz scene, and earning him a place on the world stage with some of the most significant practitioners of bop, post bop and beyond—from James Carter to Meshell Ndegecello to the Sun Ra Arkestra—and has landed him on some the most prestigious of stages with his own groups as a leader, including the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival.
Burton’s own work is in a category by itself: he brings not only stunning technique, but music that is complex, uniting all the dimensions of his experience, filtered through the sensibility of a Romantic composer. His compositions are incomparably beautiful—make that scary-beautiful—and powerful—as in mesmerizingly powerful—and haunting—as in “where has this been all my life” haunting. Always creative and unique, he shines on his debut album, “THE TRUTH OF WHAT I AM > (is greater than) THE NARCISSIST,” the title a remark on today’s “me” driven culture and art’s ability to transcend the self. His multi- dimensional compositions push the boundaries of the genre and bring to light what many reviewers have noted—his ability to bring out the best in his band.
