Review of Kenny Garrett's 'Sketches of MD'

Kenny Garrett’s Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium is simple, funky, and unassuming. Much of the album is seeped in the influence of John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. The most adventuresome track, “Sketches of MD,” is an exploration of synthesizer-heavy textures and snaking melodies that brings Miles Davis’ later music to mind.

Garrett garnered attention as a member of Davis’ electric band in the late 1980s, and the prolific alto saxophonist’s return to a backbeat-heavy style seems to explain the somewhat loose connection between the title and the content of the CD.

The first track, “The Ring,” is powerful and dark, and the soloists are given a simple harmonic backdrop. Garrett and tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders use the space to form long, dramatic phrases, at times guttural or wailing, and keyboardist Benito Gonzalez pounds out a percussive Tyner-like solo. Drummer Jamire Williams and bassist Nat Reeves create a mesmerizing beat, and the overall effect is trance inducing.

The same qualities spill over into the second track, “Intro to Africa,” which is slower and even more brooding. Garrett’s melodies are especially vocal, as he avoids his signature blistering, cascading lines for ardent, lyrical phrases.

“Sketches of MD” picks up the pace with a buoyant beat, and soon delves into space as Garrett applies effects to his sound. Gonzalez directs the mood into a disorienting realm with sweeps across the strings of the piano, and ethereal sounds from a synthesizer. Williams drops out entirely, and the music dislodges from groove, the only time on the album when this happens. From this point on, the CD sheds its contemplative nature and shifts to one of levity.

The final two tracks “Wayne’s Thang” and “Happy People,” are forays into simple, joyful funk. “Happy People,” Garrett’s usual set closer, makes use of audience participation and three false endings. It’s almost as fun as it is seeing him perform it.

Release Date:

September 23rd, 2008 on Mack Avenue Records

Track Listing:

1. The Ring
2. Intro to Africa
3. Sketches of MD
4. Wayne’s Thang
5. Happy People

Personnel:

• Kenny Garrett – Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Organ, Synthesizer
• Pharoah Sanders – Tenor Saxophone, Vocals
• Nat Reeves – Bass
• Benito Gonzalez – Piano, Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer
• Jamire Williams – Drums

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