Gary Burton
Kirill Gerstein
The Visitors

Kirill Gerstein piano
Gary Burton vibraphone
Recorded May 2012 at Chenery Auditorium, Kalamazoo
Release date: June 12, 2025

Vibraphonist Gary Burton first met pianist Kirill Gerstein in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the early 1990s and almost immediately recognized his talent. So began a logistical saga that culminated two years later in brokering passage for Gerstein and his mother to come to America, where the young prodigy enrolled as a 14-year-old at Berklee College of Music under Burton’s mentorship. Although Gerstein has since pursued a career in his first love of classical music, he has worked increasingly with improvisers such as Brad Mehldau and, in the present recording, none other than Burton himself. After winning the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award in 2010, Gerstein used his prize money to commission a series of pieces and immediately thought of Chick Corea. Gerstein proposed that Corea write a piece for him and Burton that combined both through-composed and partially improvised sections. The result was “The Visitors,” a 12-minute masterpiece that premiered at the 2012 Gilmore International Piano Festival. This recording was their second live performance of it and had only been made known to the musicians recently. Now, we have it released via ECM as a digital-only single.

Grounded in a Latin ostinato in 7/4 with a “looping groove” as Gerstein calls it, it gives organic flight to the musicians’ most uplifting impulses. As Burton makes his entrance, the duo aligns in staccato gestures before giving way to fluid diversions. The transition between what’s on and off the page is seamless, giving way to a beautiful modalism that transcends genre and time. Hearing Burton, now retired, in a relatively new recording is a joy in itself, and one can feel his history with Gerstein in their dialogue. The pianist’s solo turns are as playful as they are on point, never wavering from the dream of what the instrument can achieve when cut from the ties of expectation. His abilities are more than apparent and lend themselves to ecstatic interpretations. Burton’s occasional stretches of pedal mesh with Gerstein’s stippled approach perfectly, allowing the breath of life to animate their music making. The pianist’s rare acuity in both classical and jazz gives him the credibility to channel Corea, whose own history with Burton is also palpably evident. What a gift to behold in these times of darkness, a lighthouse for our wayward seafaring souls.

The Visitors is available for streaming and download here.