Jeffrey Burr

A graduate of William Paterson University's elite jazz program, Jeffrey Burr has garnered critical acclaim for his unique approach to playing jazz guitar. By the time he reached college, he had already played with many of the established Bay Area players such as Mark Levine, Harvey Wainapel, Vince Wallace, etc. As a member of the California High School All-Stars, he toured Japan and performed twice with bop grandmaster Dizzy Gillespie at the Monterey Jazz Festival. At WPU he went straight into the top ensemble, winning Best College Small Group in Downbeat Magazine's annual jazz competition. In 1997 Rufus Reid, legendary bassist and director of the jazz program at WPU, invited Blue Note Records president Bruce Lundvall to Jeffrey's final recital. Lundvall soon had Jeffrey in the recording studio with Reid, drummer Adam Nussbaum and producer Bob Belden. By this time Jeffrey had moved to New York and started performing in the city's famous jazz haunts, including the Blue Note, 55 Bar, and Smalls, rubbing shoulders with many of the city's elite performers, including an unknown young singer named Norah Jones. Jeffrey now resides in Oakland, CA with his wife and son. As well as gigging and teaching around the greater Bay Area, Jeffrey is also a Senior Music Analyst for Pandora.com's Music Genome Project. His latest recording, featuring mostly his own compositions, is entitled "Bright Blue." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.