While his alto saxophone playing has drawn comparisons to
Charlie Parker and his soprano sax style to the great
John Coltrane,
Kenny Garrett's actual musical voice has been described as intense, straight-ahead swing- and funk-flavored hard bop and free jazz. On
Standard of Language, the multi-Grammy nominee brings a muscular yet lyrical eloquence to nine songs -- five of which were recorded during
Garrett's September 11, 2001, recording sessions, but never released as intended on
Happy People because of day's tragic circumstances.
Kenny Garrett stretches his musical standard with such great jazz luminaries as Chris Dave, an awesome drummer who has been compared to
Tony Williams;
Charnett Moffett (also a veteran of
Tony Williams' band) on acoustic bass, more recently associated with
McCoy Tyner and
Ornette Coleman; and pianist
Vernell Brown, a veteran from the free jazz school.
Garrett blows your mind with the protean swing of "XYZ," featuring freestyle blowing that literally rules this esoteric yet melodic recording. Additionally,
Moffett offers an awesome bowing technique on his acoustic bass solo that defies gravity, while Dave and
Brown offer their stylistic contrast and swing like there's no tomorrow; in jazz terminology, they're burning. The program ends with the epic three-part title track and for over 11 minutes
Garrett mesmerizes listeners with his implementation of
Coleman's "harmolodic" musical theory,
Coltrane-like "sheets of sound," and a circular breathing technique that is unbelievable. Of his eight recordings for Warner Bros.,
Standard of Language is by far
Kenny Garrett's greatest.