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Artist
Jean paul Bourelly
12+ albums
about
CHICAGO Jean-Paul Bourelly was born in Chicago Illinois on November 23, 1960. He took an early interest in music, starting piano lessons from the age of 4. At age 9, when his cousin Brain Jones, played him tracks from the Hendrix album Band of Gypsy’s, he realized that the electric guitar could lead to a vast new world of expression for him. He did not follow through on his interest until he was thirteen, upon which, he dove passionately into learning basic blues and rock songs. By the age of 16, he met a neighborhood musician, saxophonist Steve Coleman and the two would go around to play in local jam session, most notably session run by Chicago legend Von Freeman. NEW YORK Two years later in 1979 Bourelly followed the music to New York, with his goal set on, one day performing with the innovative drummer Elvin Jones. He performed with Chico Hamilton, Roy Haynes, Olu Dara and composer pianist Muhal Richard Abrams upon his arrival, experiencing diverse sides of New York’s vibrant jazz scene. Finally in 1983 he got the call to join Elvin Jones’s Jazz Machine, touring with him for two years and having performed in several different lineups that included Mc Coy Tyner and Pharaoh Sanders. Having completed his apprenticeship, Bourelly noticed that his intense guitar sound was becoming too much for the jazz clubs of the day and he gradually gravitated toward the punk funk or No Wave music scene that was going on in New York in the 80’s. He was starting to play in places like C
