Kenny Garrett. Beyond the Wall. 2006. Nonesuch Records.
4.0
1. Calling
2. Beyond the Wall
3. Qing Wen
4. Realization (Marching Towards the Light)
5. Tsunami Song
6. Kiss to the Skies
7. Now
8. Gwoka
9. May Peace Be Upon Them
Kenny Garrett: Alto Saxophone
Pharoah Sanders: Tenor Saxophone
Mulgrew Miller: Piano
Robert Hurst, III: Bass
Brian Blade: Drums
Ruggerio Boccato: Percussion
Bobby Hutcherson: Vibes
+ Nedelka Echols: Vocals, Susan Jolles: Harp, Neil Humphrew: Cello, Jonathan Gandelsma: Violin, Guowei Wang: Erhu.
What a tease this record was. It came with high praise from a lot of sources and landed happily on my desk this morning. Garrett has never been my favorite, and Nonesuch records is good for almost nothing. But this disk has Pharoah and friends, and looked like a more spiritual, experimental, cultural excursion. At first I seemed to be right. The first track, Calling, is damn near fantastic. It’s medatative, it’s simple, it builds. Garrett and Sanders both play beautifully. Brain Blade, who can make literally anything wail (see his recordings with Joni Mitchell to prove the point), brings fantastic energy. I couldn’t make myself work along to the music as I put my feet up to let myself truly take this one in. Certainly a track I’ll use for radio play, and a cut that made me think Garrett had reached a new zenith.
The title-track follows. Miller gives a pretty straight-forward, chord-based, Tyner-esque solo, but it takes Garrett coming in for the track to get its fire. There have been thousands of Coltrane inspired tracks just like it, but its solid nonetheless.
It’s on the next track, Qing Wen, that the record wallows to its final sap-ballad resting place. The smooth Nonesuch production made me put my feet down and give the disc a second thought. The track is way too drawn out, but I suppose it’s pretty enough. The Nonesuch sound continues on Realization (Marching Towards The Light), a weird chanting number. Following that the record comes to its true low points: Tsunami Song and then, even lower, Kiss to the Skies. Tsunami Song is no better than music I would expect to hear at a cheap asian joint. Kiss the Skies has almost nothing to it. The record raises its head again for Now, which showcases one of Garrett’s hardest hitting solos. The record puts its head back down for the forgettable Gwoka and May Peace Be Upon Them.
Still can’t get into Garrett, but at least I tried. And with one truly memorable track to take out of the experience, it wasn’t all for naught.
