Release date: September 23rd 2008
Availability: CD, MP3 Download, iTunes
Recorded live at New York's Iridium Club, one time Miles Davis band member Kenny Garrett teams up with John Coltrane collaborator Pharoah Saunders on five substantial tracks that are quite different in their take on keeping alive the spirit of Miles' music.
The band – Kenny Garrett (alto sax, sax synth), Pharoah Saunders (tenor sax), Benito Gonzalez (piano/keyboards), Nat Reeves (bass) and Jamire Williams (drums) – is tight and together and able to cope well with the varied requirements.
The outright successes - a blistering modal thirteen minute hard bop opener "The Ring" that features effusive playing by Kenny Garrett accompanied for much of the time by Pharoah Saunders blowing overtones and the funk based "Sketches Of MD" where sax synth and phased voices set up an almost hypnotic trance jam that echoes Miles' "Jean Pierre" – are very good indeed and are true to the Miles Davis spirit.
Yet on the way is an R&B-like workout of little subtlety, "Intro To Africa", that appears to have little to do with Africa and much to do with monotony. And the two remaining tracks, both funky versions of earlier Kenny Garrett compositions, "Wayne's Thang" from the "Triology" album and "Happy People" from the album of the same name lack any risk taking. The direction is more retro R&B/funk than hard bop/ jazz.
Overall, an unusual mix of music to be produced at a single concert.
To preview and purchase "Sketches Of MD" on CD at amazon:
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To preview and purchase " Sketches Of MD" on MP3 at amazon:
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