Terry Burrus | |
|---|---|
 Terry Burrus | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Terrance Corley Burrus |
| Born | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Genres | Pop, rock, R&B, electro, house, soul |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, record producer, composer, conductor, dj, bandleader |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards |
| Labels | Ichiban, Ichiban-EMI, Arista, Bee Pee, Easystreet, Blue Corner, Lovelight |
| Website | www |
Terrance Corley Burrus is an American keyboardist, composer, dj, record producer, conductor, business, realty and fashion designer executive.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, he started touring as a teenager, playing with jazz fusion violinist Michał Urbaniak and singer Jean Carne while still in high school in New York. At that time, Burrus replaced Urbaniak's keyboardist, Barry Eastman (who wrote "You Are My Lady" years later for Freddie Jackson). Burrus was brought to Jean Carne through percussionist-producer Norman Hedman, who was one of Burrus's musical mentors as a child. Later on, through these types of associations, Burrus went on to play with trumpeter Tom Browne, drummer Lenny White, and singer Melba Moore. Recommended by his friend and pianist Kenny Kirkland, who was the keyboardist for Sting during the mid-1980's, Burrus had moved on to play with the great Lena Horne in her award-winning show Lady and Her Music in 1984. The Lena Horne Quintet consisted of Terry on piano and keyboards, Ben Brown on bass, Rodney Jones on guitar, Wilby Fletcher on drums, Ron Bridgewater on saxophone, and music director Linda Twine, and an array of musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra. While still playing for artists, Burrus is releasing solo recordings and concertizing on his own.
In 1983, Terry released his first solo single, called "Love Rocking", for Arista Records; a funk/electro/soul piece written and with all vocals and instruments by Burrus, with a friend from high-school named Omar Hakim on drums. This was known as Terry Burrus and Transe, and was produced by Burrus and Marcus Miller, another high-school friend. Burrus and Miller, along with drummer Poogie Bell, Bobby Broom, another high-school guitar friend, and Bernard Wright (also a high-school companion), went on to play for an off-Broadway show written by Weldon Irvine in 1977 called Young Gifted And Broke at the Billie Holiday Theater in Brooklyn, New York. Irvine had co-written with Nina Simone the famed song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black". Return To Forever's drummer and jazz fusion pioneer Lenny White joined the "Young Gifted And Broke" crew of musicians as a replacement drummer for Poogie Bell at times, and this is where Burrus became ecstatic over the magic of Lenny White. This was during the high post-Chick Corea Return to Forever season.
As time went on, Terry became a respected recording session artist, playing on recordings of Michael Jackson, Toni Braxton, Janet Jackson, Swing Out Sister, Mariah Carey, The Cardigans, Donna Summer, Lisa Stansfield, Gloria Estefan, Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Phyllis Hyman, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Satoshi Tomiie, Todd Terry, and others. In addition, Burrus has always been intrigued by the great classical masters, having studied the artistry of Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, and many others during his school days in New York, and in his contemporary piano compositions and playing can be heard classical influences. He performs many classical piano recitals around the world as well as playing in the jazz and pop genres.
Burrus has been sideman/music director on many tours of Jazz Explosion, as they were known in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as on soul, dance and gospel concerts with the Harlem Gospel Singers, Gato Barbieri, George Benson, Angela Bofill, Larry Carlton, Bill Withers, Ramsey Lewis, Crown Heights Affair, Chaka Khan, Ronnie Laws, The Main Ingredient, Johnny Kemp, Stanley Clarke, Noel Pointer, Bobbi Humphrey. Burrus also wrote and produced with the president of Philadelphia International Records, Kenny Gamble, including "Living In Confusion" and "Forever With You" for Phyllis Hyman. Burrus wrote "I Just Love You So Much" for Billy Paul and wrote and produced "Love Goddess" for Lonnie Liston Smith. Burrus also wrote and produced "I'll Wait for You" and "The One And Only Lady In My Life" for Virgin recording group Burrell, among other compositions and productions to his credit.
With contributions to many remixes of artists from the 1980s to the present day, reinforcing the sound of house music and electronic music, his early associations working with Def Mix Productions, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Satoshi Tomei and Todd Terry, Junior Vasquez, Paul Simpson, Winston Jones, Dave Shaw, Jellybean Benitez, Tony Humphries, François K and many other international and American DJ producers have rooted him well on the dance-floor and in the remix world. Burrus has created sounds in electronica that he has extended into the worlds of Techno, Trance, Ambient, World Music and more, his piano style especially being prevalent and dominant in the 1990s on many recordings by well-known and new artists around the world.