Celebrating Pianist and Composer Dave Burrell at the Vision Festival — and on The Checkout

Summary: Not many jazz musicians possess a scope as wide as Dave Burrell’s. A pianist who first emerged during the late 1960s, in wild-and-woolly ensembles led by saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp, he also has a firm grasp on the stride language of James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. His body of work as a composer includes operatic and chamber works — but he remains a fearless paragon of free improvisation, with peers like bassist William Parker and saxophonist David Murray.