Sunday, April 20, 2008

Part Two: 21st century trombone

So then, in the same weekend, I was lucky enough to go to a concert by saxophonist Kenny Garrett. Garrett is 44, played in some big bands early on, but has made a long career leading small groups. At different times, his playing and compositions are playful, funky, spiritual, and often draw on various world cultures. I've known many saxophone players who consider him one of their favorite players. Anyway, on Sunday he played a concert in Chandler, AZ as one of the headlining artists for the Chandler jazz festival. Let me see if I can describe why this show was so inspirational:

The show's MC introduced the band as "a swinging good time", but when they hit it was like stepping into a trendy shoe store in NYC- very modern house rhythm, very ambient, evolving slowly through textures. The organist played cloud-like morphing synth pads, drums and bass slammed out the house beat, and Garrett played his saxophone sparingly, and only through effects pedals, using wah and distortion to get an evocative, electric sound. Garrett also played his sax through a keyboard synth, distorting the sound even farther beyond recognition. They still played some songs with heads and solos, but the emphasis was on continuously evolving texture, subtle rhythmic play, and relentless modern groove, not on blowing hard and fast through chord changes. Garrett also had a Rhodes onstage, and he would often put down his saxophone and join the rhythm section, picking out repeating rhythmic figures that would be picked up by the band and take the feel in a new direction.

Anyway, after a weekend of being sad that the 20th century was gone, this made me psyched for the 21st. I was just so inspired to see his approach- that his band was as danceable as any dance music- that his solos weren't about "showing off" or even playing choruses, but were more directly evocative, often like vocal cries- that there's still room for creativity about form and texture- and that there doesn't have to be anything old-fashioned about jazz. It was really a good model for me, and really inspired me to keep playing and to put together my own band. Of course, it's hard enough to do what's been done before; doing something that's never been done before, like Garrett is doing, probably requires exceptionally talented and creative musicians- but it's an exciting goal. I gotta go buy some pedals...

 

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