Label: Mack Avenue, 2024

Personnel - Kenny Garrett: alto and soprano saxophone, vocals; Svoy: programming, vocals, piano, keyboards.

Mighty saxophonist Kenny Garrett hasn’t lost any of his improvisational soulfulness while playing over a totally electronic backdrop in Who Killed AI?, a duo album with pop/electronica star Svoy.

The album kicks off with “Ascendance”, a keyboards-soaked piece driven by invigorating rhythms and punctuated by warped chords over which Garrett’s sweltering phrases stand out with angular hooks and an effortless inside/outside malleability. “Miles Running Down AI” channels the spirit of Miles Davis’ electric album Bitches Brew in an exuberant fusion pinned by a funky wah-wah groove and occasionally punctuated by vibing clouds of poise.

However, not every track hits the mark; “Transcendence” unfolds under a sparse, dull beat in a controlled atmospheric setting that lacks provocation, while the duo's rendition of the standard ballad "My Funny Valentine” falls short of capturing its charm and luster.

Yet, there are highlights worth noting. “Divergence Tu-Dah” presents an alternative R&B-meets-hip-hop fusion cooked up with ominous noir undertones, vocals, and a hypnotic backbeat. The solo here - emulating a guitar - flows with an empathetic language bursting with dramatic expression. Equally enticing, “Convergence” appears as a muscular EDM-inspired cut, reminiscent of Donny McCaslin’s intrepid dancefloor excursions. Here, Garrett exhibits strong motivic inclinations.

While the duo’s bold attempt to create something out-of-the-box is laudable, the album ultimately left me with mixed feelings, as not all tracks manage to leave a lasting impact.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Ascendence ► 04 - Divergence Tu-Dah ► 07 - Convergence

Label: Mack Avenue Records, 2021

Personnel - Kenny Garrett: alto saxophone, electric piano, piano; Vernell Brown Jr.: piano; Corcoran Holt: bass; Ronald Bruner Jr.: drums; Rudy Bird: percussion, snare + Guests - Dwight Trible, Jean Baylor, Linny Smith, Sheherazade Holman, Chris Ashley Anthony: vocals; Maurice Brown: trumpet; Dreiser Durruthy: bata, vocals; Johnny Mercier: piano, organ, Fender Rhodes; Lenny White: snare; Pedrito Martinez: vocals and conga.

From the creative mind of Detroit-born altoist and composer Kenny Garrett comes a tremendously impactful album that, pulling from some deep ancestral West African sources, fuses elements of different genres and negotiates its inner contrasts. Garrett, who led memorable ensembles in the past, is backed here by the same core group that appeared on his previous work, Do Your Dance! (Mack Avenue, 2016). Sounds From the Ancestors is his 20th album as a leader.

Composed in 2019, “It’s Time to Come Home” opens the program with an Afro-Cuban tinge that is simultaneously propulsive and soothing. With the tune advancing at a waltzing pace, the saxophonist adopts a less expansive posture in terms of soloing but a more percussive and textural one in comparison with other pieces. Beautiful vocals by Jean Baylor and batá percussionist Dreiser Durruthy.

“Hargrove” is a soulful earworm, a groovy dedication to the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove, in which Garrett luxuriates in starry unisons and conversational exchanges with guest trumpeter Maurice Brown. He also nods to Coltrane’s spiritual hymn “A Love Supreme” via the vocal work of Linny Smith, Sheherazade Holman and Chris Ashley Anthony. More Coltrane is evoked on “What Was That?”, a post-bop illumination that serves as a perfect showcase for Garrett’s finely honed inside/outside playing.

As a lighted-up gospel proclamation, “When the Days Were Different” is enhanced by organ and vocals, while “For Art’s Sake”, a tribute to the drummers Art Blakey and Tony Allen, occurs under the Nigerian spell of Ronald Bruner’s syncopated Afrobeat. Before the final vamp, where drums and percussion intensify their playing, you may indulge in the deconstructive wallops that come out of the electric piano.

The exciting trajectory doesn’t stop here, and “Soldiers of the Fields/Soldats Des Champs”, composed for the musicians who fought to keep jazz alive and the Haitian soldiers who fought the French, contextualizes that revolutionary posture with a marching flow reinforced by the snares of Rudy Bird and Lenny White, rhythms from Guadeloupe as well as an otherworldly sax solo laid on top of a modal chord progression.

The title track is introduced with despondent balladic tones by Garrett on the piano, veering into an enthralling Yoruban rhythm that supports the chants of conguero Pedro Martinez and singer Dwight Trible. The piece ends as it began.

Carrying Garrett’s unmistakable signature and unique energy, Sounds From the Ancestors is unmissable, already deserving to be called ‘one of the best jazz records of the year’.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Hargrove ► 05 - What Was That? ► 06 - Soldiers of the Fields/Soldats Des Champs