Song Rig

Midnight Blue

Kenny Burrell · Midnight Blue · 1963

Tone Overview

What Makes This Sound Unique

The album's title track and Burrell's most emotionally resonant slow blues — the same guitar and amp as Chitlins Con Carne but at a slower tempo, allowing more sustain on individual notes and a more deliberate, melancholy approach to the minor blues form.

Signal Chain

1Gibson ES-335
2Clean amp

Amp Settings

Gain / Volume2

Bass7

Mid8

Treble5

Even darker than Chitlins Con Carne — Midnight Blue uses the lowest treble setting in the album, producing a round, almost bass guitar-adjacent warmth from the archtop guitar. This is the jazz guitar equivalent of a 2 AM sound.

Technique

How to Play It

Night-time jazz guitar phrasing — Midnight Blue is played as if the listener is alone at 2 AM. Burrell's phrases have longer pauses, slower vibrato, and more deliberate note choice than the shuffling energy of Chitlins Con Carne. Restraint is the technique.

Budget Alternative

Achievable With

ES-335 → clean amp → darken the treble control → practice playing slower than feels natural: every phrase has three times more rest after it than you initially allow. The midnight quality comes from the silence between phrases.

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