Customer Reviews

Songbook

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I am merely a 19-year-old, I have spent the last 9 years living, learning, and breathing jazz. About a year ago, I had known who Kenny Garrett was but had not heard any of his music. It was at this point that a friend of mine played me "Songbook". About a week later, I had this album in my possession.

Ever since I have had this album, I have not been able to stop listening to it.

Each track provides a different ambience, in such away that alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, along with fellow performers Nat Reeves on bass, Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums, and the late Kenny Kirkland on piano, is trying to tell a story or perhaps bring the listener on a journey.

Every solo taken by both Garrett and Kirkland is captivating, both with Kirkland's more mainstream, and Garrett's eastern influences evident at parts.

The tunes on "Songbook", all of which are Garrett originals, each possess their own unique feel and characteristics, everything from A funk tune, to syncopated swing, to eastern-influence, to a modified blues, to ballads.

This album clearly deserves 5 stars! There are no flaws in any part of the recording; clearly the former Miles Davis saxophone player's best work!!!

I discovered Kenny through some late records of Miles Davis. On Davis' "Live around the world" he did something on "Human nature" that just blew my mind! So I bought some records of this Saxophone Colossus and I surely wasn't disappointed. I think Songbook is his best album so far. 10 tracks and every single one remains in your ear for quite some time, whit Sing a song of song as the ultimate highlight! Mellow and funky altogether? This song proves that these adjectives can go together. I'm surely not the first to tell you: A MUST HAVE!

Kenny Garrett is one of those rare musicians who consistently amazes whether playng his own compositions as he does here or working out on standards. Garrett has a clean distinct tone and can be melodic one minute and downright explosive the next. On this recording he is accompanied by the incredible Kenny Kirkland on piano and the two of them create some unforgettable moments. My personal favorite is the funky Brother Hubbard but that's just today. Each track here has something to offer and there is a wide variety in terms of mood and feel. Garrett's more recent CD Standard Of Language is one of my absolute favorites but this is right up there as well. Kenny Garrett is a huge talent and I will be checking out anything he releases from here on out.

Wow. One word can say a lot sometimes. And that is certainly true in this case. Garrett is a forceful player, and he is in full flight on this album. These tunes are sure to become the standards of the future jam sessions. Melodies like the VERY catchy "Sing a Song of Song" and the complex licks of "2 Down" show Garrett as a formidable, young composer.

His alto playing, you ask? Other worldly comes to mind. A powerhouse of musical ideas, Garretts horn weaves though bebop runs and strange "Eastern" sounding scales with a sense of melody and groove that are hard to beat. His timing and emotion are incredible, building almost every solo to the breaking point... A man truly in command of his horn, you get the sincere impression that whatever he hears is what he plays.

The backup boys are on fire as well, as one might guess from veteran (read "star") sidemen like Kenny Kirkland and Tain Watts. The listener gets the sense that everyone's ears are locked in to the vibe, all parts working as one. The only downside here is that a CD can only hold 74 minutes of music. The playing on this album is so fresh, that you honestly believe the ideas could and WOULD flow for days on end.

If you are a saxophonist, YOU MUST buy this. If you are a jazz fan, YOU MUST buy this. I do believe that this is a future landmark recording...

Just an extra note... Kenny Kirkland's fierce fingers on the piano will move you on this album. It is sobering to think about what was yet to come from this awesome pianist when his life was ended so abruptly. Doctone, we miss you...

This is an outstanding CD. A criticism of many comtemporary players is that they all sound similiar. Not true of KG. His alto--sound and phrasing--is easily identifiable. His unique voice is heard here on a CD featuring his own songs. The songs are tuneful and not simply blowing vehicles. A lot of beautiful tunes, and a nice mix of smoking burners and ballads. SPecial props to the band. 'Tain Watts always keeps things swinging and exciting. (note: A recent CD featuring Watts and Garrett--Watts' "Live at the Blue Note") is also highly recommended.

I keep coming back to this CD. I have gone on several weeklong kicks, where I listen to the CD night and day, singing each solo, feeling gratitude to God for showing me such beautiful music. Each time I go back to this CD, it gets even better. The melodies so poignant, they fill my heart with love and pain, like only the greatest music does. I think that this may be my favorite CD ever. Kenny Garrett has got it all. He plays with so much passion, his solos build intensity to orgasmic proportions. Every note has so much weight, so much soul behind it. His time feel is rooted way deep down in the pocket, he swings with so much authority. His blues roots are evident on this CD. His tone is serpentine. His melodies remind me of Chopin in their abilty to evoke so much feeling in so few notes. His mastery of the horn, tonally, harmonically and musically is astounding. Every song on this album is amazing. Kenny Garrett, in my opinion, is the Trane of today in that he taps into an emotional, spirtual part of me in a way that no other jazz player does. It just doesn't get any better than this. I once thought that Trilogy (also very highly recommended) was the greatest CD ever, but over time, Songbook has eclipsed Trilogy in that his playing is simpler, more to the point, and the compositions are just astoundingly gorgeous. And Kenny Kirkland is so great on this CD - what a terrible shame that he is gone. His spirit lives on through his recordings. Thank you Kenny G, Kenny K. and thank you God for music! I wanna go play my horn now!

For starters putting Kenny Garrett and Kenny Kirkland in the same room is just asking for trouble. These two are some of the most harmonically complex players ever. They completely change how a minor blues is supposed to sound (Woodsteps). Kenny Garrett puts double harmonic minor (major scale with b2,b6) to use as only he can in Sing a song of song, giving it that middle eastern-walking-across-a-dessert-at-high-noon sound. If your trying to learn how to play outside and want to do it right, buy this cd. This is by far the best cd he has made.

This is is probably the best of KG's albums. It's up there with "Standard of Language". Can't get enough of it. If I had to choose favourite tracks, it would be 1 Two Down & One Across, 2 November 15, 4 Sing a Song of Song, 5 Brother Hubbard, 7 House That Nat Built.

Kenny Kirkland is sizzling on this one, I must say.

Garrett not only shows he is an outstanding player, but also an incredible composer giving out melodies which come up straight from the heart, something not so often these days in which technique seems to be in the throne in the perspective of many musicians. Certainly a MUST concerning contemporary jazz...

My 2 cents? This is one of the greatest jazz albums ever recorded with one of the greatest sax players and THE greatest pianist ever... RIP Kenny Kirkland - his legend lives on...