GRAMMY SALUTE TO KENNY BURRELL

As they continue on their mission of recognizing excellence in music, The Recording Academy® will present the GRAMMY Salute To Jazz ® to this year's honoree, guitarist Kenny Burrell on Jan. 26, culminating with the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010. The Grammy's will be broadcast live from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on the CBS Television Network, from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The GRAMMY Salute To Jazz event will feature live performances and a special presentation of The Recording Academy President's Merit Award to these accomplished artists in honor of their professional achievements.

The GRAMMY Salute To Jazz honoring Kenny Burrell will be held at the GRAMMY Museum® at L.A. LIVE on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Burrell is a celebrated and respected jazz guitarist who pioneered the guitar-led jazz trio with bass and drums in the late 1950s, and one of the earliest proponents of solo jazz guitar. He has recorded more than 100 albums and has played with the likes of John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. One of his songs, "Dear Ella," was the title tune for the GRAMMY-winning album by Dee Dee Bridgewater in 1997. In addition to his extensive performing, recording and composing schedule, Burrell is the founder and director of the jazz studies program at University of California, Los Angeles, where he is a professor of music and ethnomusicology. He is a lecturer and director of workshops on guitar and jazz studies, and the co-founder of the Jazz Heritage Foundation and the Friends of Jazz at UCLA. He will be featured on the Delta Airlines' GRAMMY Salute To Jazz channel for the month of January.