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| Sketches of MD - Live at the Iridium |
| Kenny Garrett |
| első megjelenés éve: 2008 |
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CD |
| 5.745 Ft
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| 1. | The Ring
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| 2. | Intro to Africa
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| 3. | Sketches of MD
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| 4. | Wayne's Thang
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| 5. | Happy People
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Jazz
Kenny Garrett - Clarinet (Bass), Organ, Producer, Sax (Alto), Synthesizer
Benito Gonzalez - Fender Rhodes, Piano, Synthesizer
Nat Reeves - Bass
Pharoah Sanders - Guest Appearance, Sax (Tenor), Vocals
* Dena Katz - Photography
* Greg Calbi - Mastering
* Jimmy Katz - Photography
* Jonathan Duckett - Engineer
* Maria Ehrenreich - Director of Creative Services, Producer
* Raj Naik - Art Direction, Design
Though it was recorded live at New York's jazz emporium, Iridium, Detroit born saxophonist Kenny Garret makes a return home of sorts with Sketches of MD, his debut on the Motor City's own Mack Avenue Records. His quartet here, with bassist Nat Reeves, pianist/organist Benito Gonzalez, and drummer Jamire Williams, may not possess the star power of some of his studio albums, but this band is more than up for the gig. In addition, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders reprises his role from Beyond the Wall from 2006 as Garrett's foil, creating sparks aplenty. Garrett's been a lot of places since he left Detroit: he was a member of one of Miles Davis' later electric groups, and in his own generous collection of albums his explorations have run the gamut, from hard-driving post-bop explorations in African Exchange Student to the post-Coltrane modalism and Eastern overtones on Beyond the Wall to the varied jazz-funk workout on Happy People. Here, Garrett offers a sincere crowd-pleasing set of his own tunes that covers all of these terrains. All five of these pieces are long. The set commences with "The Ring," an extended, hypnotic modal workout with Gonzalez playing his best McCoy Tyner, and Garrett's alto and Sanders' tenor beautifully articulated. On "Intro to Africa," Gene Ammons' soul meets Duke Ellington's blues in a sultry mix of honking and blowing. The vamp is repetitive as in a repeated coda, but serves to build the tune up into something both folksy and profound -- especially as Sanders and Garrett begin to chant along with the piano. The title track begins as a skeletal sketch played out in rhythmic quotes from Reeves and in breaks by Williams; Garrett's and Sanders' exchanges are minimal, ratcheting up the tension in the groove where the pulse feels more pronounced as Gonzalez colors in the frame with painterly synth washes. This is among the most beautiful and quietly rousing things here. There is an excellent version of Garrett's now trademark "Wayne's Thang" with grooved-out funk led initially by a bass drum and a hi-hat vamp by Williams and Gonzalez's Rhodes. Garrett's alto comes strutting in the door with a spare but killer strut in call and response with Williams until the keyboardist begins to solo and Sanders enters. The set closes with "Happy People," where Williams' kit shuffles and shifts from tom-toms and cymbal bells to hi-hat and snares as Garrett and Sanders dig into everything from tough and contemporary jazz to R&B to quoting Weather Report and the electric groove of mid-'70s Herbie Hancock.Gonzalez is a big player here, not so much as a soloist -- though he is that -- but more the cornerstone of the evolving sounds and textures this group is putting forth. What is most pleasing about Sketches of MD is that Garrett is as concerned with offering his audience a solid and utterly engaging show as he is with having himself thought of as a banner-carrying sophisticated jazzman. And that's where he stands above so many of his contemporaries: Garrett finds beauty and worth in a rainbow of jazz's expressions in the 21st century. This set is an excellent debut showcase for Garrett on Mack Avenue.
---Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Kenny Garrett
Active Decades: '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: Oct 09, 1960 in Detroit, MI
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Modern Creative, Post-Bop, Contemporary Jazz, Free Funk, Modal Music
Although saxophonist, bandleader and composer Kenny Garrett never had the benefit of a college education, that hasn't hurt his career as a jazz musician one bit. Garrett has released several critically acclaimed albums for the Warner Bros. label and prior to the birth of his recording career, earned his Master's degree in the jazz clubs in and around his native Detroit. Garrett's father was a carpenter who played tenor saxophone as an avocation. He got his first saxophone as an eight-year old and quickly learned the G-scale, thanks to his father. He studied with trumpeter Marcus Belgrave and began performing with Mercer Ellington's band before he had finished high school. His first few professional shows were with Detroit area musicians, Belgrave and pianist Geri Allen. He felt he had arrived as a saxophonist when he was asked to join the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington. He skipped college and went on the road with the band for the summer and ended up staying with them for three and a half years on the road.
Garrett was raised in the Detroit jazz scene of the 1970's, which wasn't nearly as vibrant as it was a decade earlier. In high school, he had the good fortune to play with organist Lymon Woodward locally in Detroit, but recalls having to travel an hour or two hours from home to maintain his status as a working musician. He was encouraged to begin writing his own compositions by various members of Ellington's band, and began doing so a short time later. Aside from alto and soprano saxes, Garrett also uses the piano to compose. Prior to his rise under his own name as a bandleader and composer, Garrett had the opportunity to perform and record with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw and the afore-mentioned Ellington Orchestra.
In 1982, he relocated to New York City, the jazz capital of the world, and now lives in suburban northern New Jersey.
Garrett made his recording debut with "Introducing Kenny Garrett," with the Criss Cross label in 1984 and then jumped to Atlantic Records, a major label which at that time was interested in rebuilding its once glorious jazz legacy. He recorded two notable albums with Atlantic, "Prisoner of Love" and "African Exchange Student." He began recording for Warner Bros. in 1992, when he released his stunning, critically appraised debut, "Black Hope." He followed up in 1995 with "Trilogy," and recorded "Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane" in 1996. He released "Songbook," his first album made up entirely of his own compositions, in 1997. Since then his other releases include "Simply Said," "Happy People," and "Standard of Language," all for Warner Bros. His most recent release is 2006's "Beyond the Wall." Garrett is a most versatile player, equally at home playing classic blues and rhythm and blues as he is interpreting classic jazz compositions by classic composers. As a composer himself, he has not even begun to reach his full potential yet, and more bright moments are in the offing in the recording studio and on the bandstand for this talented arranger, composer, musician and bandleader.
---Richard Skelly, All Music Guide |
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