Kenny Garrett, world-renowned jazz saxophonist and Grammy Award winner, to perform in Wrocław!

The Grammy-winning musician has been hailed as “the most important alto saxophonist of his generation” by Washington City Paper and as “one of the most admired saxophonists in jazz after Charlie Parker” by The New York Times.

Perhaps more than any other artist in contemporary jazz, Kenny Garrett and his band are known for getting audiences out of their seats and letting them lose themselves in the rhythm.

“Sounds from the Ancestors” and memories of Detroit

Kenny Garrett’s 2021 album “Sounds from the Ancestors” is a multifaceted record. Its music ranges beyond jazz, which is hardly surprising given that the saxophonist and composer cites Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye as important influences.

Miles Davis’s landmark album “On the Corner” transformed the influences of James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone into a world of its own, full of polyrhythms, propulsive grooves and intense improvisation. In much the same way, “Sounds from the Ancestors” occupies a space of its own, marked by clarity of thought, inventive sound and emotional depth.

“Sounds from the Ancestors” reflects the rich history of jazz, R&B and gospel in Garrett’s hometown of Detroit. Just as importantly, the album has a contemporary, cosmopolitan energy, drawing on music from France, Cuba, Nigeria and Guadeloupe.

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From the Duke Ellington Orchestra to leading his own band

Garrett grew up in Detroit, where he heard his father play tenor saxophone at home. His high school band director, Bill Wiggins, was an important mentor. After high school, Garrett joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra, then led by Mercer Ellington. He went on to play in Mel Lewis’s orchestra and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In 1987, Miles Davis invited Garrett to join his band. He recorded and performed with the trumpeter until Davis’s death in 1991.

Kenny Garrett smiles and holds his saxophone horizontally against a red background. · Photo: Jimmy Katz

Alongside those collaborations, Garrett began building his own discography. In 1984, he recorded his first album as a leader, “Introducing Kenny Garrett”.

Kenny Garrett has followed his own path since his first albums for Atlantic Records: “Prisoner of Love” (1989), which included “Sayydah’s Single File Groove”, “Peace for a Dream” and “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”, and “African Exchange Student” (1990), featuring “Ja-Hed”, “Someday We’ll All Be Free” and “Nostradamus”. The conviction with which he pursues his artistic vision and his spiritual sensitivity have always come through with great force. This is the path of an artist who chose his mentors with care before becoming a leader himself, bold yet modest and always looking to grow.

In 2010, Garrett won a Grammy for “Five Peace Band – Live”, recorded in the band led by Chick Corea and John McLaughlin. In 2023, the National Endowment for the Arts named him an NEA Jazz Master. A year later he released “Who Killed AI?” with Svoy, his first electronic album.

Like every great bandleader, Garrett remains a lifelong student. He explores the music of the past and the present and learns from everyone he plays with, as a sideman and as a composer and leader in his own right. His music continues to absorb those experiences and perspectives.