Kenny Burrell Charity Work, Events and Causes

After 40 years as a jazz professional, appearing on several hundred albums as leader and sideman, Kenny Burrell is among the handful of guitar greats who have forever changed the role of their instrument. Beside his untiring performing and recording schedule, Kenny has been a teacher at UCLA for many years, founding and directing the Jazz Studies Program, lecturing and directing workshops on guitar and Jazz studies, founder and President Emeritus, of the Jazz Heritage Foundation, and all around crusader for the recognition of jazz as a classical art form. He is also a prolific composer whose compositions have been recorded by many other great artists. His song “Dear Ella” won the 1998 Grammy Award. Kenny has garnered the respect of the entire jazz world, is an educator and spokesperson for the entire tradition of American Jazz, and is recognized as a goodwill ambassador for jazz. In all, Burrell has recorded more than ninety albums as a leader, receiving much critical acclaim, including having been voted “Best Guitarist” numerous times by music fans and critics worldwide.