“It has become eminently apparent that
Kenny Garrett is the most consistently scintillating and inspiring
alto/soprano saxophone force in the genre.” –Ted Kurland
 Kenny Garrett © Andrea Canter Kenny Garrett grew up surrounded by
jazz, gospel, R & B, and classical music in his native Detroit.
His father, who played tenor sax, introduced young Kenny to jazz and
the saxophone. Like many young Detroit jazzhounds in the 70s, Garrett
was mentored by Marcus Belgrave. In 1978, his plan to attend the
Berklee College of Music in Boston took a back seat when Garrett had
the opportunity to tour with the Duke Ellington Orchestra (under
Mercer Ellington’s direction). Moving to New York 3 years later,
Garrett played in the Ellington band’s Sophisticated Ladies;
he was exposed to the music of Thad Jones as a member of the Mel
Lewis Orchestra and to the music of Mingus as a member of the Dannie
Richmond Quintet. His first recording (Introducing Kenny Garrett,
Criss Cross) was released in 1984, and soon he was performing
with Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, and Woody Shaw. In 1986, still with
the Jazz Messengers, he also joined Miles Davis’ last touring band,
playing and recording for five years. Notes Garrett of this
association, “Miles’ genius was getting the best out musicians
without controlling them—letting them be free, but also getting
what he wanted from them.” As one of the last great musicians to
work his way up the ranks in the bands of other great musicians,
Garrett attributes much of his success to his early work in those
great bands, but cites John Coltrane as having the most influence on
his artistry.
Garrett recorded two for
Atlantic—Prisoner of Love and African Exchange Student—
before signing with Warner Brothers, for whom he has released eight
acclaimed recordings in the last 12 years. He has over 100
appearances as sideman, tours with Roy Haynes’ Charlie Parker
tribute band, Birds of a Feather, has received multiple Grammy
nominations, and is a frequent critics’ and readers’ poll winner,
recently topping Phil Woods for the alto “king” spot in the Down
Beat Readers poll. And while most of his work is in modern
mainstream idioms, Garrett is an eclectic artist who has experimented
with fusion and hip hop (including Guru’s Jazzmatazz projects) as
well as appearing with the New Jersey Symphony (Barber’s “Adagio
for Strings”), Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and Peter Gabriel. Says
Garrett, “Rather than simply say, ‘I play jazz,’ I say, ‘I
play music.’”
Garrett’s efforts in the past 7-8
years have leaned more and more toward his own compositions. Songbook
(1997) was the first to feature his original music and was honored
with a Grammy nomination. His most recent Warner Brothers recording
(Standard of Language, 2003) was described by Ted Kurland as
“roll-up-your sleeves, in-your-face, hard bop
blowing at its best; an energized set of rippling melodic songs.”
Other recent projects have put him in the company of Jeff “Tain”
Watts, Pharoah Sanders, John Scofield, and Pat Metheny.
The 2006 Nonesuch
release, Beyond the Wall, reflects Garrett’s (and
Coltrane’s) long-standing flirtation with Asian music forms as well
as his response to a tour of China. Named to multiple “best of the
year” lists, “without words, Garrett powerfully recounts a
spiritual as well as geographical journey; its contemplative moments
are counterbalanced by outbursts of instrumental fire…”
(Amazon.com).
Garrett always brings a stellar quartet
on tour, but for the Yoshi's gig he went even farther with the addition of Bobby Hutcherson. The elder statesman of the acclaimed SF Jazz Collective, 63-year-old Hutcherson is one of the most influential vibraphonists in jazz history. Born in Los Angeles, he first studied piano with his aunt and was influenced by his family’s interest in jazz. (His brother was a friend of Dexter Gordon and his sister, a singer, later dated Eric Dolphy.) Hearing a Milt Jackson record as a teenager spuured him to take up the vibes, studying with Dave Pike. Gigs with Curtis Amy and Charles Lloyd and a band led by Al Grey and Billy Mitchell led him to New York’s Birdland in the early 1960s. Soon he was jamming with Grant Green, Hank Mobley, and Herbie Hancock, while his unorthodox approach to harmony produced associations with the era’s experimentalists, including Jackie McLean, Grachan Moncur III, Archie Shepp, Andrew Hill, and Eric Dolphy. Now a veteran recording artist for Blue Note, Hutcherson returned to Los Angeles in 1967, where he collaborated with Harold Land. Now into a modal bop style, he played with Woody Shaw’s quintet, adding the marimba to his repertoire. In more recent years has recorded and performed with McCoy Tyner. Now living in the Bay Area and performing with the SF Jazz Collective, the Village Voice describes him as “mercurial, intense, and superbly inventive…the outstanding vibes player of his generation.”
The winner of the 2005 Great American Piano Competition,
Venezuelan pianist Benito Gonzales first played
accordion and percussion before taking up organ and later piano, and
is now one of the fast-rising stars in Latin and modern jazz.
Bassist and Lynchburg, VA native Nat Reeves has been a steady pulse setter with Kenny Garrett for more than a decade as well as jazz educator at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. Drummer Jamire Williams has been touring with Garrett,
Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life, and others.
At Yoshi's,
be prepared for a lot of high flying alto and soprano sax, luxuriant vibes, and unrelenting youthful exuberance. As noted by the Washington
Post, “Someone should post a storm
warning prior to a Kenny Garrett concert.”
The Kenny Garret Quartet will be on
the bandstand at Yoshi's at Jack London Square in Oakland, January
25-28; www.yoshis.com
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Sunday, 20 July 2008
