UPDATE 7/11/19: A report in The Washington Post on July 10 has added many more layers of complication to the Kenny Burrell GoFundMe story, which we will continue to follow as it develops.
The following statement was sent via email to JazzTimes editor Mac Randall by guitarist Kenny Burrell on July 1. It adds many layers of further detail to the story of Mr. Burrell’s recent medical and financial difficulties—and the GoFundMe page launched to help alleviate them—that JT has been following since May. It also addresses some of the confusion and rumors that arose within the jazz community in the wake of that page’s creation. The original root of Mr. Burrell’s current troubles is only briefly alluded to here, but in separate correspondence with him and his wife Katherine, it was confirmed to JazzTimes that the accident Mr. Burrell suffered shortly after his 85th-birthday concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall in December 2016 was a fall that caused serious head injuries, requiring several surgeries due to chronic subdural hematoma (caused by bleeding in the brain).
