Kenny Garrett

• Name — Kenny Garrett • Born — 9 October 1960 • Birthplace — Detroit, Michigan, U.S. • Genre — * Jazz • post-bop • jazz fusion • Occupation — Musician • Instrument — * Alto saxophone • soprano saxophone • flute • piano • Years Active — 1978–present • Label — * Atlantic Jazz • Warner Bros. • Mack Avenue • Criss Cross Jazz • Past Member Of — * Five Peace Band • Miles Davis • Woody Shaw • The Jazz Messengers • Marcus Miller • Website — www.kennygarrett.com

Kenny Garrett was born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 9, 1960. He attended Mackenzie High School. His father was a carpenter who played tenor saxophone as a hobby. Garrett's own career as a saxophonist took off when he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra, under the leadership of Mercer Ellington, in 1978. Garrett also played and recorded with Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Woody Shaw before developing his career as a leader. In 1984, Garrett recorded his first album as a bandleader, Introducing Kenny Garrett, on the Criss Cross label. During that year, he became the founding member of the ensemble Out of the Blue, which was produced by Blue Note Records. In 1986, Garrett became a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Garrett signed to the Warner Bros. Records label, and beginning with Black Hope in 1992, he recorded eight albums for them. His music sometimes exhibits Asian influences, an aspect that is especially prevalent in his 2006 Grammy-nominated recording Beyond the Wall. • Illustration — Five Peace Band in 2008. From left: Christian McBride, John McLaughlin, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Garrett. Garrett joined the "Five Peace Band" of Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade/Vinnie Colaiuta around 2008. The CD Five Peace Band – Live won a Grammy Award in 2010. In 2011, Garrett was presented with an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Berklee College of Music, in Boston, Massachusetts. Garrett also was the Commencement Speaker for graduates. In 2012, Garrett received a Soul Train Music Award nomination for his 2012 studio album Seeds from the Underground in the Best Traditional Jazz Artist/Group category. Also in 2012, Grammy nominations for Seeds from the Underground followed in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo categories, and Seeds From The Underground received an NAACP Image Award nomination in the Outstanding Jazz Album category. In 2013, Garrett won an Echo Award in the Saxophonist of the Year category. Garrett's album Pushing the World Away received a Grammy nomination in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album category in 2013. He followed with Do Your Dance! (2016), Sounds from the Ancestors (2021) and released his first electronic album, Who Killed AI? (2024), in collaboration with electronic producer/instrumentalist Svoy.

• Introducing Kenny Garrett (Criss Cross, 1985) – rec. 1984 • Garrett 5 (Paddle Wheel, 1989) – rec. 1988 • Prisoner of Love (Atlantic, 1989) • African Exchange Student (Atlantic, 1990) • Black Hope (Warner Bros., 1992) • Stars & Stripes (Jazz Door, 1995) – bootleg (unofficial) album • Triology (Warner Bros., 1995) • Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane (Warner Bros., 1996) • Songbook (Warner Bros., 1997) • Simply Said (Warner Bros., 1999) • Happy People (Warner Bros., 2002) • Standard of Language (Warner Bros., 2003) • Beyond the Wall (Nonesuch, 2006) • Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium (Mack Avenue, 2008) – live • Seeds from the Underground (Mack Avenue, 2012) • Pushing the World Away (Mack Avenue, 2013) • Do Your Dance! (Mack Avenue, 2016) • Sounds from the Ancestors (Mack Avenue, 2021) • Who Killed AI? with Svoy (Mack Avenue, 2024) As leader of General Music Project (G. M. Project) (Co-leader with Charnett Moffett) • General Music Project (Sweet Basil/Apollon, 1994) – with Charles Moffett and Geri Allen • Blacker (Sweet Basil, 1997) – with Charles Moffett and Cyrus Chestnut • General Music Project II (Evidence, 1998) – with Charles Moffett and Cyrus Chestnut • Mr. J.P. (Videoarts Music, 2001) – with Louis Hayes and Carlos McKinney Compilations • Old Folks with John Scofield, Michael Brecker and David Friesen (West Wind, 1999) • Casino Lights '99 (Warner Bros., 2000) – live at Montreux Jazz Festival • Various artists, Relief: A Benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians' Emergency Fund (Mack Avenue, 2021)

Out of the Blue • Out of the Blue (Blue Note, 1985) – with Michael Philip Mossman, Ralph Bowen, Harry Pickens, Robert Hurst and Ralph Peterson, Jr. • Inside Track (Blue Note, 1986) – with Mossman, Bowen, Pickens, Hurst and Peterson • Live at Mt. Fuji (Blue Note, 1987) – live rec. at the Mount Fuji Jazz Festival 1986 at Lake Yamanaka, Japan. with Mossman, Bowen, Pickens, Peterson and Kenny Davis. Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers • Feeling Good (Delos Productions, 1986) The Duke Ellington Orchestra • Music is My Mistress (Musicmasters, 1989) Manhattan projects (With Carl Allen, Roy Hargrove, Donald Brown and Ira Coleman) • Dreamboat (Timeless, 1990) – rec. 1989

With Donald Byrd • 1987: Harlem Blues (Landmark, 1988) • 1989: Getting Down to Business (Landmark, 1990) With Chick Corea • Remembering Bud Powell (Stretch, 1997) – Grammy nominated • Five Peace Band Live with John McLaughlin (Concord, 2009)[2CD] – Grammy won • The Musician (Concord Jazz, 2017)[3CD] With Miles Davis • 1988-1989: Amandla (Warner Bros., 1989) • 1990: Dingo (Warner Bros., 1991) • 1988–1991: Live Around the World (Warner Bros., 1996) – live • 1991: Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux (Warner Bros., 1993) – live • 1991: Merci Miles! Live at Vienne (Rhino/Warner, 2021) – live With Roy Haynes • Praise (Dreyfus Jazz, 1998) • Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated With Freddie Hubbard • Double Take with Woody Shaw (Blue Note, 1985) • The Eternal Triangle with Woody Shaw (Blue Note, 1987) • Topsy – Standard Book (alfa, 1990) – rec. 1989 With Marcus Miller • The Sun Don't Lie (Dreyfus, 1993) • Tales (Dreyfus, 1995) • Live & More (GRP, 1997) – live rec. 1996 • M² (Telarc, 2001) • Dreyfus Night in Paris with Michel Petrucciani (Dreyfus Jazz, 2003) – live rec. 1994 With Mulgrew Miller • Wingspan (Landmark, 1987) • Hand in Hand (Novus, 1993) – rec. 1992 With Charnett Moffett • Beauty Within (Blue Note, 1989) • Evidence (Telarc, 1993) With Woody Shaw • Double Take with Freddie Hubbard (Blue Note, 1985) • The Eternal Triangle with Freddie Hubbard (Blue Note, 1987) With Mike Stern • These Times (ESC, 2003) • All Over the Place (Heads Up International, 2012) – rec. 2011 With Jeff Tain Watts • Citizen Tain (Columbia, 1999) • Detained at The Blue Note (Half Note, 2004) – live With others • Geri Allen, The Nurturer (Blue Note, 1991) • Clifton Anderson, Decade (Doxy, 2008) • Cindy Blackman, Arcane (Muse, 1987) • Terence Blanchard, Romantic Defiance (Columbia, 1995) • Richard Bona, Munia: The Tale (Verve, 2003) – 1 track • Cameo, Machismo (Atlanta Artists, 1988) • Dennis Chambers, Planet Earth (BHM Productions, 2005) • Cyrus Chestnut, A Charlie Brown Christmas (Atlantic, 2000) • Foley, 7 Years Ago... Directions In Smart-Alec Music (MoJazz, 1993) • Guru, Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality (Chrysalis, 1995) • Bobby Hutcherson, Skyline (Verve, 1999) • Javon Jackson, When The Time Is Right (Blue Note, 1994) • Al Jarreau, Tenderness (Reprise, 1994) - live • Rodney Kendrick, The Secrets of Rodney Kendrick (Verve, 1993) • Christian McBride, Number Two Express (verve, 1996) • John McLaughlin ans Chick Corea, Five Peace Band Live (Concord, 2009) – Grammy won • Meshell Ndegeocello, The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel (Universal Music, 2005) • Q-Tip, Kamaal the Abstract (Battery, 2009) • Tony Reedus & Urban Relations, People Get Ready (Sweet Basil, 1998) • Wallace Roney, Intuition (Muse, 1988) • Philippe Saisse, Masques (Verve Forecast, 1995) • John Scofield, Works for Me (Verve, 2001) • Woody Shaw, Solid (Muse, 1987) • Patches Stewart, Blow (Koch, 2005) • Stephen Scott, The Beautiful Thing (Verve, 1997) • Sting, If on a Winter's Night... (Deutsche Grammophon, 2009) – 1 track • Wayman Tisdale, Power Forward (Motown, 1995) • Steve Turre, Rainbow People (HighNote, 2008) • Jack Walrath, Master of Suspense (Blue Note, 1987) • Cedar Walton, Cedar Walton Plays (Delos, 1987) • Lenny White, Present Tense (Hip Bop, 1995) • Larry Willis, My Funny Valentine (Jazz City, 1988) • Akiko Yano, Elephant Hotel (Epic, 1994) – 1 track

• Chart — Peak position — Work • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (1989) — 20 — Prisoner of Love • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (1990) — 5 — African Exchange Student • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (1992) — 6 — Black Hope • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (1995) — 22 — Triology • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (1996) — 10 — Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (1997) — 7 — Songbook • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (1999) — 20 — Simply Said • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (2002) — 19 — Happy People • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (2003) — 11 — Standard of Language • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (2006) — 13 — Beyond the Wall • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (2008) — 11 — Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (2012) — 10 — Seeds from the Underground • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (2013) — 6 — Pushing the World Away • Billboard Top Jazz Albums (2016) — 24 — Do Your Dance!

• 2011: Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music, Commencement Speaker • 2023: NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship • 2023: Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministère de la Culture, République de France

• Year — Result — Award — Category — Work • 1996 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 1997 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 1997 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Jazz Album of the Year — Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane • 1998 — Grammy Award — Best Jazz Instrumental Performance — Chick Corea – Remembering Bud Powell • 1998 — 40th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Award — Best Jazz Instrumental Performance — Songbook • 1998 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 1999 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 2002 — Grammy Award — Best Jazz Instrumental Album — Roy Haynes – Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker • 2007 — Grammy Award — Best Jazz Instrumental Album — Beyond the Wall • 2009 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 2010 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 2010 — Grammy Award — Best Jazz Instrumental Album — Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band – Five Peace Band Live • 2012 — NAACP Image Award — Outstanding Jazz Album — Seeds from the Underground • 2012 — Soul Train Awards — Best Traditional Jazz Artist/Group — Seeds from the Underground • 2012 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 2013 — Grammy Award — Best Jazz Instrumental Album — Seeds from the Underground • 2013 — Grammy Award — Best Improvised Jazz Solo — "J. Mac" on Seeds from the Underground • 2013 — Echo Award — Best International Jazz Saxophone Performance — Seeds from the Underground • 2013 — JJA Jazz Awards — Alto Saxophonist of the Year • 2013 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 2014 — Grammy Award — Best Jazz Instrumental Album — Pushing the World Away • 2014 — Soul Train Awards — Best Traditional Jazz Performance — Pushing the World Away • 2014 — DownBeat Critics Poll — Alto Saxophone • 2014 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 2017 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone • 2019 — DownBeat Readers Poll — Alto Saxophone