Today In Black History: Charles Burrell
The first African American to play with a major symphony orchestra
Issue #896 Today In Black History, Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Charles Burrell with his son.
Charles Burrell was born on October 4, 1920, in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He later joined his family in Denver, Colorado.
He played bass as a student at the prestigious Cass Technical High School (my alma mater), where he was instructed by two musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Gaston Brohm and Oscar Legassy.
After high school, Burrell landed a job playing jazz at B.J.'s, a club in Detroit's all-Black Paradise Valley District. At the start of World War II, he was drafted into an all-black unit located at Great Lakes Naval Base near Chicago, Illinois. He played in the unit's all-star band with Clark Terry, Al Grey, and O. C. Johnson, and attended classes at Northwestern University and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
A prodigy on the double bass, his passion for music led him to study at prestigious institutions, including the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Burrell attended the New England Conservatory of Music, and after his honorable discharge from military service in the US Navy, he attended Wayne State University, where he was told he'd never find a job as a music teacher because he was Black. He finally earned a teaching certificate at University of Denver.
Burrell's historic achievement came in 1949 when he joined the Denver Symphony Orchestra, now known as the Colorado Symphony. At the time, the classical music world was largely closed off to African Americans, but Burrell's talent and determination made him the first African American musician to perform in a major American symphony orchestra.
His accomplishment challenged the status quo and opened doors for African American musicians in an industry that had long been exclusive and resistant to change.
In 1953, Burrell quit playing in the Denver Symphony to become the bass player in Nellie Lutcher's band. He was a prominent jazz player in Denver's Five Points scene and was featured in a PBS documentary on the subject. At that time, the jazz scene in Five Points was the only one between St. Louis and the West Coast, making it one of the most vibrant in the country, often referred to as "The Harlem of the West.”
He shared the stage with jazz legends such as Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner, Charlie Parker, Earl Hines, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton, as well as Gene Harris.
He was also noted as the teacher and mentor of bass player Ray Brown and multi-Grammy Award-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves, a niece of his. Keyboardist George Duke, a cousin, also credited Burrell for convincing him to give up classical music and switch to jazz.
After ten years, Burrell left Denver and fulfilled his longtime dream, becoming the San Francisco Symphony’s first Black musician. He later joined the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as one of the institution’s first professors of color.
Charles Burrell passed away on June 17, 2025, at the age of 104 in Denver, Colorado.
Today In Black History
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln read the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet.
In 1872, Black inventor Elijah McCoy received a patent for his lubricators for steam train engines. His invention was so successful that train companies asked for “the Real McCoy.”
In 1900, the first Pan-African Congress, organized by Trinidadian Henry Sylvester Williams, met in London.
In 1920, British East Africa was renamed Kenya and became a British colony.
In 1933, Caterina Jarboro became the first African American to perform with an American opera company, performing the role of Aida.
In 1967, 43 people died and 2,000 were injured in the Detroit Rebellion.
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