Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
The Essence of Emily
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
Kenny Garrett (left) and band create a festive atmosphere at the Blue Note New York during an early September engagement.
(Photo: Herb Boyd)Alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett’s most recent recording is Sounds From The Ancestors (Mack Avenue), and he summoned a host of them during his Sept. 1–4 engagement at the Blue Note New York. From pianist Keith Brown’s opening swift arpeggios to the rousing close of the first night, Garrett’s ensemble created a festive occasion at the venerated Greenwich Village venue.
In recent months, Garrett has accumulated a stockpile of awards, including winning the Alto Saxophone category in DownBeat’s 70th Annual Critics Poll and being named a 2023 NEA Jazz Master. But he is obviously not content to rest on his laurels, and he and his energetic band evoked the likes of Art Blakey, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis and, on the final tune of their set, James Brown — with Garrett at the mic urging on the dancers leaping from their chairs and spinning to the furious rhythm.
It was a rhythm-and-blues moment that you rarely see in the club, and one that might have surprised many of Garrett’s longtime followers. More to their liking was at least two of the tunes from Sounds From The Ancestors: “It’s Time To Come Home” and the title track. The former had a lilting repetitiveness that brought Shorter to mind, and drummer Ronald Bruner and bassist Corcoran Holt evinced a deep familiarity to the undulating quality of the tune. Garrett was at the keyboard on the title track before surrendering the cosmic-like melody to the pianist. And then Garrett applied torrents of sound from his saxophone as vocalist Melvis Santa, with shekere, blended harmonically.
Toward the end of the evening, Garrett, propelled by Bruner and percussionist Rudy Bird, delighted the crowd with a lengthy solo, invoking a coterie of influences. His blistering attack included Bird-like licks, Coltrane intimations and ideas passed down to him by the veteran horn players who gave him his first lessons in Detroit. It was hard not to think of Eli Fountain’s solo on Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” or, later, the intervallic flights of Eric Dolphy. But what most attendees were certain to take from the performances was Garrett doing his best onstage imitation of Brown, without the dance moves but with the groovy incantation, calling to the spirits. DB
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
Feb 25, 2025 10:49 AM
Larry Appelbaum, a distinguished audio engineer, jazz journalist, historian and broadcaster, died Feb. 21, 2025, in…
“This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.
Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
Cynthia Erivo and Herbie Hancock perform “Fly Me To The Moon” during a Grammy Awards tribute to Quincy Jones on Feb. 2.
Feb 3, 2025 10:21 PM
The jazz and blues community may not have been center stage for the majority of the 67th annual Grammy Award…
