Who Killed AI? (Mack Avenue)
Kenny Garrett & Svoy
Released April 12, 2024
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2024
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l2cBFFLGbDJSqrx5Sxkw-QS1hX2DrQgW4
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About:
For more than three decades saxophonist Kenny Garrett has been on the forefront of the most adventurous and creative collaborations in jazz, having performed with generations of innovators such as Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard and more. The living legend charts yet another path in his illustrious career with the release of his first ever electronic album, an avenue to explore new sounds.
Track Listing:
1. Ascendence (Kenny Garrett) 03:54
2. Miles Running Down Ai (Kenny Garrett) 05:10
3. Transcendence (Kenny Garrett) 05:11
4. Divergence Tu-Dah (Kenny Garrett) 05:09
5. Ladies (Kenny Garrett) 03:06
6. My Funny Valentine (Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers) 06:15
7. Convergence (Kenny Garrett) 06:30
Personnel:
Kenny Garrett: alto & soprano saxophones, vocals
Svoy: programming, vocals, piano
Produced by Kenny Garrett and Svoy
Recording, Mixing, Mastering: Svoy
Assistant Recording & Mixing: Kenny Garrett
Art direction: Timothy Cobb Passarella
Additional Layout: Romelle Cananizado
Review:
Electronic jazz albums are a potentially tricky proposition based on a seemingly contradictory idea that you can create organic, improvisational music in what is usually a more controlled, production-heavy, computer-based style. Saxophonist Kenny Garrett defies such concerns and bridges the gap between in-the-moment improvisation and beat-based productions with 2024’s Who Killed AI?. This is Garrett’s first all-electronic album and finds him working in collaboration with electronic producer/instrumentalist Mikhail Tarasov (aka Svoy). A former student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Svoy brings both jazz and classical influences to bear on his work and has garnered acclaim as a solo artist and as a producer for other artists. All of this makes him a perfect collaborator for Garrett, a performer whose work also straddles a wide array of styles, from his early days in Miles Davis’ crossover fusion band of the late-’80s to his own heady post-bop, funk, and world music explorations. Together, they craft sonically adventurous tracks that wouldn’t sound out of place at a rave, but they also feature plenty of propulsive, harmonically nuanced improvisation. Much of this is due to Garrett’s crisp, motivic style and his kinetic lines push nicely off Svoy’s textured, groove-based soundscapes. It’s a vibe they leap into on the opening “Ascendence,” where Garrett spirals through Svoy’s digital buzz and grind like John Coltrane plugging into the Matrix. And while a kind of jazz future shock is the aesthetic at play, they draw upon jazz history, evoking Garrett’s time with trumpeter Davis on “Miles Running Down AI,” a slippery, acid-soaked wah-wah number that works as a wry nod to “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down” off 1969’s Bitches Brew. The duo even offer a skittering, EDM-esque rendition of “My Funny Valentine” that one can only imagine might have made even the Dark Prince of jazz smile.
Matt Collar (AllMusic)
