Kenny Garrett Announces New Album; At Iridium This Weekend –

Kenny Garrett is a true giant.  His primary tool is alto saxophone which he supplements with the soprano sax and flute.  The Detroit Native who’s been based in the NYC area since the early 80s has taken his fans to many wonderful musical places over the course of his career.  He’s incorporated modalism and funk and colors from around the world while never wondering too far from satisfying straight-ahead jazz.  I met with him last week in Harlem after first speaking with him at Montreal Jazzfest in the summer of 2014 prior to a performance from his hard-driving band punctuated by his scorching solos.  His group this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is largely the same with Corcoran Holt on bass, Vernell Brown on piano, and Rudy Bird on percussion.  McClenty Hunter was the man on drums in Montreal while Marcus Baylor will be behind the kit at The Iridium.

Garrett built his reputation on his five years with Miles Davis (he was featured on the Amandla and Dingo albums) through recordings with collaborators like Mulgrew Miller (piano) and Brian Blade (drums) among many others.  Garrett 5 and Trilogy respectively are perhaps the most essential recordings from those periods but you really can’t go wrong anywhere within his body of work that includes recordings with Roy Haynes, John Scofield, Chick Corea, Christian McBride, Mike Stern, Q Tip, etc etc.  He’s offered loving and rewarding tributes to John Coltrane and Charlie Parker and is currently riding a winning streak of albums on the Motor City based Mack Avenue label.  Now he’s preparing to release the follow up to 2013’s Pushing The World Away.  Do Your Dance, recorded at Sear Sound on 48th Street, will likely be released in April.

Kenny Garrett spoke about his band and his heroes and took no prisoners onstage at the 2014 Montreal Jazz Festival.  A peak at the jazz saxophonist‘s performance there plus a chat including Kenny talking about Sonny Rollins and the lineage of jazz greats like Parker and Coltrane that serve as his foundation.