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Saying Goodbye To Big Joe

Burlington, Vermont - February 2, 2005

Big Joe Burrell lived up to his nickname. He was a larger than life figure for the Burlington music scene. A mentor, an ambassador, a character... and a legendary performer.

Big Joe arrived in Vermont in the mid-70s ... by then a well-traveled and seasoned sax player.

Born into a big family in Michigan in 1924 -- Burrell had an early love of music. He bought his first saxophone for 15-dollars -- and used his skills to work his way out of depression-era Detroit. He eventually worked his way on to the big stage in the 40s, 50s and 60s -- playing with jazz greats like Count Basie, Etta James and B-B King.

But he found his home in Burlington at the old Hunt's nightclub where an impromptu session with some other local musicians led to the formation of the Unknown Blues Band.

It was a group that would become anything but unknown playing steadily over the next quarter century led by the charismatic Big Joe.

When he wasn't playing his saxophone, he was telling his stories. Sharing his wit and wisdom with an easy style that captured the attention of young and old.

Many considered Big Joe to be Burlington's cultural ambassador, a job he took seriously on trips to Europe and Burlington's Sister City in Russia, Yaroslavl.

He experienced so much in his life, he recorded it in a book.

"Well, my nephew used to hear me telling stories about what we did on the road. He said, 'Uncle Joe, why don't we write a book.' I said, 'I don't write nothing'."

So he told his stories into a tape recorder recalling many fond memories.

"I got a good buddy from second grade and we start laughing about all the things we did and I get a kick out of it, because it brings it back.... we were always into something," he says with a great big laugh.

Big Joe Burrell -- "what a life, what a journey".

Roger Garrity - Channel 3 News