About Jon Burr
"I can't remember during the thirty one years that I have been producing the Paradise Valley Jazz Party so many people being so impressed with one musician as I heard from this year about you..."—Don Miller, producer of the Paradise Valley Jazz Party
Charlie Mingus asked him to sit in on bass at the Village Vanguard at the age of sixteen. Tony Bennett critiqued his lyrics. Chet Baker and Stan Getz played his songs. Stephane Grappelli, Hank Jones, Buddy Rich, The Hot Swing Trio and a host of others hired him to play in their bands. Singers love him – Tony Bennett, Barbara Cook, Rita Moreno, Eartha Kitt, and many others have hired him. Now, after learning beside the masters of American music, he found his voice as the bandleader/composer/bassist/producer of the Giant Cicada, the Jon Burr Band, as a producer and composer, and a partner in the duo Jon & Lynn.
Jon’s original songs are “melodic, accessible,” “toe-tappers,” “gorgeous,” and have “the feel of new standards.” Jon is a “technical master” on the bass whose work inspires those around him. “I’ve found that the bass is a great place to lead a band from,” he says…”you’re always in the music, can give it pulse and direction, and stimulate the others to reach deep in the material. There can tend to be a level of restraint imposed on the music when the leader is a singer or soloist…I run a liberated band, and the only thing I ask is that the others dig in and have fun with the material.”
Jon’s new band Giant Cicada is a crossover project with an unusual sound, playing a style described as “Chamber Punk.” It features vocal, violin, guitar, bass and cajon drum, with an EP release scheduled for June 1 2011.
Jon also produced the Just Can't Wait CD/DVD, featuring the Jon Burr Band performing 15 of the titles “at the highest standards of musical performance,” released on the jbQ Media label; following this came the new Jon & Lynn release, all now available at CDBaby, Amazon.com and iTunes.
2009 also saw the release of Jon’s book The Untold Secret to Melodic Bass, a book written for bassists—and all musicians—available in paperback on Amazon.com, and via pdf download on jonburr.com.
*LA Times **All About Jazz Magazine
