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Personnel: Kenny Garrett (soprano & alto saxophones); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); Kenny Kirkland (piano, synthesizer); Donald Brown (synthesizer); Charnett Moffett (bass); Brian Blade (drums, cymbal); Ricky Wellman (drums); Don Alias (percussion). Recorded at Power Station, New York, New York. Alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett is among the most fearless young originals on the contemporary scene. A robust melodic player on speaking terms with many saxophone traditions, who never resorts to trite technical displays or fashionable soul gestures. Which is not to say that he lacks dazzling chops or contemporary aspirations. Far from it. It's just that his apprenticeship with the likes of Art Blakey and Miles Davis has left him with a deep distrust for the easy cliche. With BLACK HOPE, Kenny Garrett zeroes in on the amalgamation of elements he finds most appealing in the contemporary and mainstream traditions, and he manages to walk the line between the preaching quality of R&B and the giddy freedom of modern jazz as no one of his generation has. He even manages to impart some fresh class and dignity to the soprano saxophone. The earnest silky soul of Garrett's title tune suggest the jazzy side of Marvin Gaye, even as "Van Gogh's Left Ear" radiates a near-eastern aura. Garrett's sanctified alto work on "2 Step" augments the emotional range of popular black dance grooves without losing the booty, and "Bone Bop" extends on the vivid multi-percussive dialect of the last Miles Davis band. Yet for all of Garrett's enlightened funk sensibilities, his swinging mastery of rhythm changes enlivens "Jackie & The Beanstalk" with authentic fire, while he and tenor master Joe Henderson impart an elemental blues feeling to the hard-riffing "Computer G." Peeping through it all is the discernable influence of John Coltrane, but Kenny Garrett is already very much his own man--and his best is yet to come.
