Ralph Peterson 35th Annual Student Music Awards - Downbeat

Kenny Garrett
went out with Davis for three gigs in Chicago,
Minneapolis and Ann Arbor, Mich. The leader
sent him a tape and asked him to learn the
melodies of the songs in the set. There were no
rehearsals and only a short sound check before
the first show.
Garrett wore sunglasses in his attempt at
looking hip like Davis. For his first two gigs
with the icon, he believes that the microphone
he was using wasn’t working. By the third night,
Garrett was audible.
He recalls, “After my first solo, Miles came
up to me, took off my glasses and said, ‘What?’
It was like he couldn’t believe what I had played.
He put my glasses back on and that was it. The
rest is history.”
A three-night tryout ended up lasting fiveand-a-half
years. Was the experience initially
intimidating? “No, not at all,” Garrett says. “I
had been playing with Art, so, of course, I had
heard all the Miles Davis stories. It was interesting
playing in the style that Miles was into then,
the J.B. and Prince stuff that had nothing to do
with what he heard me playing with Freddie or
Art. With Miles, I never tried to play anything
more than what the music demanded, except
after a few years I worked in some harmonic
devices. But it was a great experience for me—
this kid from Detroit playing with Miles, and it
was all good.”
solo career
During his tenure with Davis, Garrett graduated
to the big time as a recording artist
of his own, signing with Atlantic Jazz and
releasing Prisoner Of Love in 1989 and African
Exchange Student in 1990. (I reviewed the latter
in the January 1991 issue of DownBeat,
giving it a four-and-half-stars and noting that
“there’s not a cliche within earshot in Garrett’s
playing as he expressively sputters, screeches,
wails, pouts and squeaks unusual sax tones.”)
Pianist Donald Brown, also a Blakey alum
during Garrett’s run, produced African Exchange
Student, resulting in another longtime musical
friendship that continues today. Seeds was
co-produced by Brown and Garrett. “When we
first start working together, we formed a mutual
admirers’ society,” says Brown, who has been
teaching music for 23 years at the University of
Tennessee, Knoxville. “Kenny and I talked all
the time and had wide-open conversations about
all kinds of music—not just jazz but music from
our backgrounds, because he was from Detroit
and I was from Memphis. We were into jazz,
r&b, funk.”
Over the years, the two produced other
albums together (including Garrett’s Warner
Bros. debut, Black Hope, in 1992 and Trilogy
in 1995), so it pleased Brown that he was once
again brought on board for Seeds. “I can hear
so much growth in Kenny, harmonically and
melodically,” Brown says. “He has such a great,
unique voice on the saxophone, and there are
few musicians as excited about life and music
32 DoWNBEAt JUNE 2012
on Seeds, garrett
plays alto and
soprano saxophone
as Kenny. And as a composer, I wish I had written
a couple of the tunes Kenny did on the new
album, like ‘Ballad Jarrett’ and ‘Detroit.’”
Garrett’s praise of Brown has to do with his
ears—and his compositions. “Donald’s been an
inspiration for a long time,” he says. “I aspire to
be able to write like him. So I’d present to him
new songs I had written to see what he thought,
because he understands where I’m coming
from. I want him to listen and talk to me about
what he’s hearing.”
Also along for the Seeds adventure is another
longtime friend and bandmate, Nat Reeves,
who has known and performed with Garrett
since the early ’80s, including working in
Shaw’s band. Based in Connecticut, where he
teaches at The Hartt School at the University
of Hartford, Reeves says that he continues to
be impressed with Garrett’s ability to push forward
as a creative artist. “I can’t stop listening
to the new record,” Reeves says. “There’s so
much variety in the music. He’s always drawing
from different types of music, from different
cultures. He’s not just playing jazz.”
Reeves says that Garrett called him up often
during the embryonic stage of Seeds to play
him a song on the piano that illustrated the bass
lines. “When Kenny writes, he keeps his band
in mind,” says Reeves. “In my case, it’s making
sure that the bass fits in with the melody. He’s
not only been a dear friend over the years, but
I’ve learned so much from him as well. Kenny’s
a real genius. I wish people knew how much
time he spends working on the music before he
records.”
“Kenny always had a great sound from the
very beginning,” Miller adds. “He had his own
unique sound, but now, that sound has transformed
to a more captivating and lyrical voice.
I dare say, Kenny Garrett is one of the most
imitated alto saxophonists. I hear little Kenny
Garretts everywhere I go on the planet.”
So it’s no wonder that Berklee bestowed
upon Garrett an honorary doctorate and asked
him to give the commencement address at its
May 2011 graduation ceremony. Four thousand
people attended the event, which honored the
school’s largest graduating class (908 students).
Garrett did his own planting of seeds in his
commencement speech, telling graduates, “I’m
hear to testify that dreams are possible, but
there’s work that has to be done to accomplish
those dreams. As you stand on the shoulders of
our forefathers, try to raise the bar as high as
you can.”
In reflecting back on the speech, Garrett
smiles and says, “All I told them was my own
story, which is [that] no one ever told me what I
couldn’t do. If someone tells you that you can’t
do something, you go out and do it. There are
all types of possibilities. It’s not just rhetoric.
If someone is telling you that you can’t do it,
they’ve already planted a seed. And that kind of
seed is an obstacle.” DB