Beyond the Wall

Kenny Garrett | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 29, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000GNOSBS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,400 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the Wall, August 31, 2006

By 

Matthew Miller "jazzplayer" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Wall (Audio CD)

I have been a fan of Kenny Garrett for a while now, but he has come to a new high. "Beyond the Wall" is an amazing new albulm which demonstrates the a new muscial sense that i had not seen in Garrett before. That is not to say that he didnt have musical sense in his earlier albulms, he certainly did, but this is something newer to him: a larger band orchestrating more complex music, which is at times sweet and others harsh. A perfect blend.

The central group (i say central because there are numerous extra musicians that vary from track to track) consists of Kenny (of course), jazz legend Pharaoh Sanders on tenor saxophone, Mulgrew Miller on piano, Robert Hurst on bass, Brian Blade on drums and Bobby hutcherson on vibes. Even without the extra musicians I mentioned, this already a larger group than he tends to work with (if past albulms are anything to judge by) and it couldnt suit him better. Sanders, who I know best for his work with the "new" Coltrane Quartet, ive never really liked; his work always seems brash and lacking melodic sense. He is not like that here. Both he and Kenny share a keen sense of solo and harmony, in a few places improving at the same time. On this Albulm Sanders is a perfect complement to Garrett. This albulm is dedicated to my personal idol, McCoy Tyner, and this dedication is apparent Miller's piano. While few can rival Tyner's distinct, inventive playing, Miller clearly has taken a lot from him, and produces some excellent solo work. Both Brian Blade (drums) and Bobby Hutcherson (vibes) i have liked in the past, and i can only say they live up to their past work. Robert Hurst (bass), however, i havent payed much attention to in the past, and i was pleasantly surprised when i started listening. The first comparative person i thought of was Jimmy Garrison (A piller, along with Tyner and Elvin jones, of the classic Coltrane Quartet).

The music is varied and interesting. Garret conceived this Albulm after a trip to China (hence the Great wall of China being on the cover) which gave him an asian inspiration to work with. Dont misunderstand though, this is certainly a work of jazz, not of traditional Chinese music; the influence is not necessarily apparent on every track. In some tracks whatever asian influence is not necessarily readily apparent, whereas in others it is. This leads to an albulm that doesnt sound the same from track to track. It reamins fresh and innovative from start to finish, with some help from a number of extra musicians on a few songs. Garrett even brought in a traditional instrument on one song.

With such influence and excellent musicians to back him, Kenny succeeds in making every song interesting in its own right, even if the song is eleven minutes long, it does not get boring, an issue that ive seen in many jazz musicians. Well orchestrated heads lead into well improved solos which lead into well orchestrated codas, it all flows so well. It Culminates in the last track, "May Peace Be Upon Them", which is just Kenny and the Rythm section. Here Garrett best demonstrates what a musician he is; It is a beautiful and powerful testament to his inspiration.

I decided to buy this albulm because i liked much of Garrets previous work, and i can say that i am more than happy that i got it. I finish this review only a few hours after having bought it, impressed enough to listen through it a few times and write review, in the hope that i might impress upon you the quality of this cd. If you are a fan of Garrett, this is a must have.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent mixed Bag, September 26, 2006

By 

M. Murphy (birmingham, alabama United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Wall (Audio CD)

As a big fan of Garrett I looked forward to Kenny's latest after the excellent cd Standard of Language. What I got was a very excellent spiritual[think Love Supreme like]group of tunes in addition to a couple of annoying chant songs. Garrett plays wonderfully[as always] and is surrounded by the best supporting cast he's ever assembled. Mulgrew Miller on piano is wonderful and Pharoah Sanders is restrained in a good way. The real problem becomes the voices. As either backround harmonizing or outright "chanting" they don't work. I appreciate Kenny's recent spiritual awakening inspired by his trip to China. In fact both Calling[the opener] and May Peace Be Upon Them are darn near "Train-like". Five stars without the vocal Four stars with. But at over 70 minutes there's alot to like. Plus it's Kenny after all. Bold and an "almost classic".

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliance...interrupted, February 16, 2007

By 

Jon Dough - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Wall (Audio CD)

Tracks 1, 2, 7 and 9 ("Calling", "Beyond the Wall", "Now", and "May Peace Be Upon Them") are nothing short of brilliant! This is exciting, modern hard-bop at its best, and the execution is superb.

Tracks 3 and 8 ("Qing Wen" and "Gwoka") are equally brilliant compositions, superbly played, but inexcusably interrupted by irritating and cheesy vocals. The worst of these occurs in "Qing Wen" where we are forced to endure increasingly hysterical bleating approximately every 10-15 seconds for the entire song, interrupting some excellent soloing. "Gwoka" follows this repetitious pattern, albeit less frequently and with a more subdued vocal chorus.

Track 4 ("Realization...") is an atmospheric piece that loops over a 2 second Tibetan chant for the duration of the song. I actually think this track works as a nice contemplative interlude, although the chanting does tend to get monotonous by the end.

Track 5 ("Tsunami Song") is an out of place throwaway. The melody is pretty, but here we have Garrett playing very unremarkable piano, along with a Chinese erhu and some strings. As pleasant as it is, this tune would have been more at home on the soundtrack for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Finally, in Track 6 ("Kiss to the Skies") we get a glimpse of Garret's worst tendencies in some thinly disguised smooth jazz.

Despite these glaring flaws, the high points on this disc are so strong that it is worthy of 4 stars. Garrett's (or his producer's) overindulgence unfortunately spoiled an otherwise masterpiece.