Kenny Garrett Quintet
Kenny Garrett (1960) – American alto saxophonist, flutist, composer, leader, one of the leading and most influential figures of world jazz. For over three decades, he has remained an active artist, valued for his ability to combine acoustic jazz with new trends and world music.
He grew up in Detroit – a city with strong musical traditions – where he absorbed jazz, gospel, soul and rhythm and blues from childhood His first teacher was his father, an amateur tenor saxophone. An important role in Garrett’s education was played by Mackenzie High School, known for its solid music program and regular jam sessions with local artists.
After graduating from school, he began his professional career. As just 18 years old, he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra led by Mercer Ellington, and in the first half of the 1980s he honed his form in the Mel Lewis Orchestra, Dannie Richmond’s quartet and the legendary Jazz Messengers by Art Blakey. During this period, he left Detroit for New York, where he quickly became an active participant in the local jazz scene. In 1984, he made his debut with the album Introducing Kenny Garrett. A breakthrough moment in Garrett’s career was his collaboration with Miles Davis. From 1987 to 1991, he was one of the main pillars of the trumpeter’s electric formation, touring with him all over the world (a memorable performance at the Jazz Jamboree in 1988) and recording two albums (Amandla, Dingo). These experiences shaped Garrett as a conscious artist, allowing him to open up to new forms and sounds. In one of the interviews, he recalled: “Miles gave us a lot of freedom, he allowed everyone to tell their own story, thanks to him I understood the conscious and unconscious processes in music, his spirit is present in everything I do.” The spiritual heritage of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders and the broadly understood tradition of African-American music also occupy an important place in Garrett’s work.
Since the 90s, he has been working intensively as a leader. He has recorded over twenty original albums (m.in. “Black Hope”, 1992; Triology, 1995; Songbook, 1997; Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane, 1996; Beyond the Wall, 2006; Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium, 2008), gradually expanding the stylistic range of his music. He is also a valued sideman – he has participated in over two hundred recording and concert sessions of artists such as Art Blakey, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner and rapper Q-Tip.
Kenny Garrett’s style of playing is one of the most recognizable in contemporary jazz. It derives from the tradition of post-bop, the achievements of Coltrane, Jackie McLean and Cannonball Adderley, but from the beginning it shows the characteristics of originality. Its sound is characterized by a strong, saturated tone, often sharp, tense, sometimes balancing on the border of intonation, especially in the highest register of the instrument, and varied articulation (characteristic staccata). Garrett’s improvisations are motor in nature, developed through repetitions of short motifs, full of surprising accents, and a clearly marked pulse and ostinato figures give them rhythmic intensity.
In 2021, Sounds from the Ancestors was released, one of the artist’s most personal and stylistically consistent albums. It’s a return to the roots, a kind of summary of previous inspirations. Garrett combines contemporary jazz, dance rhythms and soul vocals from Motown, referring to the music of Coltrane (A Love Supreme), Blakey and Davis. The album was widely acclaimed by critics, and in 2022 it was awarded the NAACP Image Award in the Best Jazz Album category.
In 2024, Garrett made extensive use of electronics and digital sound processing for the first time. His latest album, Who Killed AI, recorded together with musician and producer Svoy, contains seven compositions with the saxophonist’s improvisations developed against a background of samples, sound textures and computer-generated beats. The album’s music refers to Miles’ aesthetics from the 80s.
Garrett’s work has been honored with numerous awards, including a GRAMMY (2010) for Five Peace Band – Live (with Chick Corea and John McLaughlin), a NEA Jazz Master (2023), and an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music.