Born in Middletown, Ohio, United States,[1] Burrell grew fond of jazz at a young age after meeting Herb Jeffries.

[1] In 1968, Burrell co-founded The 360 Degree Music Experience with Grachan Moncur III and Beaver Harris[1] and recorded two albums with the group.

Burrell appears on Murray's DIW albums Lovers, Deep River, Ballads, Spirituals, Tenors, Remembrances, and Picasso, recorded between 1988 and 1993.

His 2004 album Expansion (with bassist William Parker and drummer Andrew Cyrille) was acclaimed by NPR, Down Beat, Village Voice, JazzTimes, The Wire, and others.

[5] With Albert Ayler With Marion Brown With Stanley Cowell With Henry Grimes, Roberto Pettinato, and Tyshawn Sorey With Duo Baars-Henneman With Noah Howard With Khan Jamal With Stafford James With Giuseppi Logan With Grachan Moncur III With David Murray With Sunny Murray With Alessandro Nobile and Antonio Moncada With William Parker With Odeon Pope With Roswell Rudd With Pharoah Sanders With Archie Shepp With Sonny Sharrock With Alan Silva With Bob Stewart With Steve Swell With Clifford Thornton With Le Tigre des platanes With Patty Waters With Bobby Zankel With The 360 Degree Music Experience