Steve Wyzard EXHILARATING!

1995 was a banner year for jazz, and Kenny Garrett's Triology album remains one of the most memorable and re-listenable after all these years. His seventh studio album, Triology does without the melodic "oomph" of keyboards, guitar, or another horn. It's just Kenny on the alto, Kiyoshi Kitagawa (7 tracks) and Charnett Moffett (3 tracks) on bass, and the magisterial Brian Blade on drums. Many listeners dismiss sax trio albums as "dry", "tiring", or "too serious", but those adjectives come nowhere near to describing these recordings. There are no weak links and no showing off, nor is there any hint of "hushed reverence". Triology is the work of a true virtuoso who knows who he is, and where he wants to go.

Let's talk about TONE. Garrett's very unique alto may remind one of the soprano sax from time to time, but it never dissipates into that wispy Paul Desmond sound (and I mean that with NO disrespect). There are no solo pieces on Triology, yet only rarely does Garrett take a breather throughout. Give Kenny credit for not starting with something simple: "Delfeayo's Dilemma" is a barnstormer with the "almost soprano" tone front and center. The pace hardly slackens throughout: "Night and Day", "Giant Steps", and "Pressing the Issue" would all fit comfortably on the "snappy-to-fast" spectrum. "Oriental Towaway Zone" (with a formidable Kitagawa solo) and "What is this thing called love?" could both be described as "blistering". After a Brian Blade intro, Garrett spools off line after line over a bass ostinato on "Wayne's Thang" before teasing with not one, but two false endings. The trio does (relatively) slow down for "A Time for Love" and "In Your Own Sweet Way".

When discussing the alto sax, people always want to compare and contrast with players such as Cannonball Adderley, Marion Brown, Lee Konitz, and Art Pepper. And as great as those players are, Kenny Garrett remains his own man, respectfully paying tribute to the past while forging ahead to the future. It was a great temptation to title this review "Honkin'", that wonderful quality which can certainly be found amidst Triology's 57 minute run time, but that would not do this command performance justice. This album never ceases to amaze me and is far less "tiring" than plain and simply "exhilarating"!

js “Seeds from the Underground” is the latest offering from saxophone virtuoso Kenny Garret and finds him working with the sort of post bop material typical of his career, but with some new differences as well. The influence of Coltrane and Pharoh Sanders’ modal work runs heavily through Garret’s playing and composing, but at the same time, the music on here is less raw than Trane and Sanders 60s output, but instead has a slight “contemporary” polish. Whether this more modern production is a plus or minus is up to personal taste. When I mention that the production has a contemporary sound, don’t think for a second that the musicians on here hold back at all, Garret’s saxophone playing is as brilliant as ever, and pianist Benito Gonzalez attacks the keys with a big sound influenced by McCoy Tyner, but with a little less thunder and a little more modern refinement than McCoy.

There are a lot of interesting experiments with Latin and Afro-Cuban rhythms on here, aided by the bata and percussion work of Rudy Bird. The combination of Garret’s post bop structures with the poly-rhythms of Cuba and Africa makes for a nice modern sound. There also seems to be a slight influence from the repeating minimalist structures of the nu jazz crowd. Some of the tunes on here are less like energetic workouts, but more like snapshots of sophisticated rhythms bound within tight structures. Another interesting addition to this album is the wordless vocals of Nedelka Prescod which lends an exotic sound to some melodies. On “Haynes” she backs the soloists with a repeating melodic figure that recalls Albert Ayler’s experimental work with vocalists. All through this album Garret tries different musical styles, such as the old-school bop on “Du-Wo-Mo”, but frames everything in his unique musical language which gives the album unity.

Some album highlights include the beautiful lonely melody on “Detroit”, which perfectly captures the pathos of that mostly abandoned once bustling American industrial center; and “J.Mac”, a lengthy modal workout which allows Garret and Gonzalez a chance to really go off. This is a good album and it will appeal to fans of Garret and modern post bop, but I think for new fans, possibly a better place to start with Garret is his high energy live concert with Pharoh Sanders, "Sketches of M.D.", recorded in 2008.