Midnight blue

Description

A blues album by one of the undisputed aesthetes of bebop may seem amusing, but Midnight Blue is indeed one of the essential works of the blues. But here it is a stripped-down, deconstructed distillation of blues, a strong tribute to a style that has always influenced the guitarist. Two things are remarkable. The first is that all the tracks except one are original compositions by the guitarist, which proves the artist’s extreme inventiveness, where other instrumentalists would have been content to line up standards. The second lies in the great variety of rhythms and sounds that run through this collection: Kenny Burrell clearly takes pleasure in varying the pleasures (an electric guitar on Soul Lament, rhythmic boldness on Midnight Blue or Wavy Gravy for example). Midnight Blue is a model of balance and finesse.