Kenny Garrett - Sounds From The Ancestors

180-gram gatefold double LP

Reflecting sax master Kenny Garrett's rich jazz, R&B and gospel musical history

"One of the most admired alto saxophonists in jazz." — The New York Times

Kenny Garrett's latest release, Sounds from the Ancestors, is a multi-faceted album. The music, however, doesn't lodge inside the tight confines of the jazz idiom, which is not surprising considering the alto saxophonist and composer acknowledges the likes of Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye as significant touchstones.

Similar to how Miles Davis' seminal LP, On the Corner, subverted its main guiding lights — James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone — then crafted its own unique, polyrhythmic, groove-laden, improv-heavy universe, Sounds from the Ancestors occupies its own space with intellectual clarity, sonic ingenuity and emotional heft."

"The concept initially was about trying to get some of the musical sounds that I remembered as a kid growing up — sounds that lift your spirit from people like John Coltrane, 'A Love Supreme,' Aretha Franklin, 'Amazing Grace,' Marvin Gaye, 'What's Going On,' and the spiritual side of the church," Garrett explains. "When I started to think about them, I realized it was the spirit from my ancestors."

Indeed, Sounds from the Ancestors reflects the rich jazz, R&B, and gospel history of his hometown of Detroit. More important though, it also reverberates with a modern cosmopolitan vibrancy — notably the inclusion of music coming out of France, Cuba, Nigeria and Guadeloupe.

The core ensemble for Sounds from the Ancestors, consists of musicians that Garrett has recorded and toured with in recent past — pianist Vernell Brown, Jr., bassist Corcoran Holt, drummer Ronald Bruner, and percussionist Rudy Bird. The album also features guest appearances from drummer Lenny White; pianist and organist Johnny Mercier; trumpeter Maurice Brown; conguero Pedrito Martinez; batá percussionist Dreiser Durruthy; and singers Dwight Trible, Jean Baylor, Linny Smith, Chris Ashley Anthony and Sheherazade Holman. And on a couple of cuts, Garrett extends his instrumental palette by playing piano and singing.

 

Side A

1. It's Time to Come Home

2. Hargrove

Side B

3. When the Days Were Different

4. For Art's Sake

Side C

1. What Was That?

2. Soldiers of the Fields / Soldats des Champs

Side D

1. Sounds from the Ancestors

2. It's Time to Come Home (original)

Be the first to write a review for this item OR just rate it