I felt like I was a teacher. But nowadays, I am as much a student of his. He writes a lot of what we play.

Their eight recordings together won the pair Grammy awards in years 1979 1981 1997 1999 and most recently in 2009 for The New Crystal Silence and in 2013 for Hot House. S. After Coryell left the quartet in the late-1960s Burton hired a number of well-regarded guitarists: Jerry Hahn David Pritchard Mick Goodrick Pat Metheny John Scofield Kurt Rosenwinkel and most recently Julian Lage who played guitar in Burton's group Next Generation.

He is also known for pioneering fusion jazz and popularizing the duet format in jazz as well as being a major figure in jazz education due to his 30 years at the Berklee College of Music. A true original on the vibraphone Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated.