Kenny Garrett Sextet
Stockfish,
Nice,
France.
11 March 2026

Kenny Garrett - Alto saxophone, electric piano and vocals
Keith Brown - Piano & Electric Piano
Melvis Santa -  Vocals and Gourd
Corcoran Holt -  Double Bass
Rudy Bird -  Percussion
Ronald Bruner Jr - Drums

Kenny Garrett’s concert, part of the series Nice Music Live put on under the auspices of the city council, sold out well in advance and there was an expectant atmosphere inside Stockfish ahead of him coming on stage. When he emerged onto the stage the cheering audience welcomed him like a returning hero.

The much decorated Garrett e.g. one Grammy along with Chick Corea and John McLaughlin in 2010 and seven Grammy nominations, has history with the city of Nice. As far as I know, he’s played here at least four times as leader in four different venues the last eight years despite the pandemic hiatus, and also at the Nice Jazz Festival 2010 with Chick Corea. Interestingly among the honours Garrett’s earned is Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded in 2023 by the French Ministry of Culture.

The concert which was about two hours without a break showed the many sides of Kenny Garrett. Not only at times the fiery alto sax soloist for which he is best known also Garrett the keyboard player, the generous yet demanding orchestrator of the audience as well of his band, the showman, and the composer of melodic hooks What we didn’t get was Kenny Garrett the soprano sax player though it was there standing by his feet at the front of the stage.

Garrett is known as a post-bop player whose music also takes in gospel, his father was a deacon, soul, r’ n b and hip hop, and more. In a 2025 interview with Dean Nardi Garrett said “I listen to all styles of music: African music, Indian music, Middle Eastern, Eastern music. I never think about if it’s too much, I just present the music. I feel if I present it on the highest level I can, then that’s the best I can offer for it .” https://www.allaboutjazz.com/kenny-garrett-speaks-through-the-soul-of-his-jazz-kenny-garrett.
Indeed African and Afro Cuban rhythms were present in this concert.

The band Garrett brought with him was the core group of musicians who played on his eighteenth album as leader ‘Sounds from the Ancestors’ (2021) with the exception that Keith Brown was at the piano chair not Vernall Brown who sadly died in May 2022, and with Afro-Cuban vocalist Melvis Santa doing vocal duties. All the band members were consummate musicians, and it was noticeable that Garrett wisely gave them space, particularly pianist Keith Brown and double bassist Corcoran Holt who each put in more than one impressive show stealing extended solo. Melvis Santa’s role was limited (self-limited?) to adding wordless vocal harmonies which she did do very well, and to adding rhythmic texture with her gourd. I was left with the impression she’d much more in her locker.

Garrett and the band did so much start as blasted off the launch pad with a fourteen to fifteen minute number which might have been wholly or in part an extended version of ‘Hayes Here’ from Garrett’s 2012 album ‘Seeds from the Underground. I say might as Garrett did not announce any of the numbers, all of which were probably Garrett originals.

After a brief intro by Garrett it took off initially with a combination of the percussive groove of Brown’s piano the powerful drumming of Ronald Bruner, the rawness slightly smoothed by a repeated wordless chant from Melvis Santa. Fiery solos from both Garrett’s alto and Holt’s double bass followed, the audience responding to Garrett’s contribution with much cheering, before the piano and drums combo again took the lead. It was then back to Garrett but this time working in harmonic unison with Santa’s wordless vocals.

This rather pleasant melodic passage gave no hint that what was to follow, which was the ensemble playing rip it up,  push the envelope free jazz with Garret’s searing alto rising to what sounded like a pained scream. This was disturbingly tense music but above all a tremendously exciting climax to an absorbing fifteen minutes. The audience responded with a roar of approval.

We were then led onto much calmer ground by long introspective notes from Holt playing arco bass, the one time he played arco, with Garrett’s alto fluttering very high in the register, a sound akin to bird song. The effect was to induce a reverential hush in the room.

A funky number came next with Garrett making the first of a number of visits to the electric piano. I have to say on tonight’s showing while it clearly is something he enjoys, electric piano is not one of his strengths. The contrast with the contributions of the superb Keith Brown underlined piano is not Garrett’s number one instrument.

When he returned to the front of the stage it was to repeatedly chant “Let’s go, yeh yeh” while making hand gestures to the audience which seemed to be Garrett’s way of urging the already feverish crowd to give even more.

A pleasant soulful number came next kicked off by Garrett’s alto with Santa then coming in with a wordless vocal in harmony. However this one was ‘owned ’ by the rhythm section along with a Rudy Bird conga solo. With Garrett playing background keys the band referred to John Coltrane’s spiritual jazz by ‘A Love Supreme’ being quoted with Santa chanting the eponymous incantation.

Garrett’s tribute to drummers Art Blakey and Tony Allen, ‘For Art’s Sake’ featured Corcoran Holt’s rhythmic double bass playing in a number that had an appealing African groove thanks to Rudy Bird’s djembe solo, Melvis Santa vocals being in Yoruba and Ronald Bruner’s impressive multi-rhythmic Afro Beat drumming that was very appropriately given that a large chunk of the late Tony Allen’s career was spent working with and for Fela Kuti.

There was a strange few minutes when Garrett having noodled a simple phrase on the electric piano and invited each member of the band in turn to briefly improvise on it. This might have been a way of deconstructing a tune to show the different elements that go into it. Garrett did not say what was going on, and in the absence of any explanation it could seem as if he was auditioning the band members.

Garrett was again at the keys in a number with a catchy melodic hook, and which owed a lot to John Coltrane. The next notable event was Ronald Bruner’s big drum solo. .with Bruner playing cross rhythms loudly and intensely to the cheers of the crowd, but staying clear of slipping into stadium bombast.

As the concert drew towards the end we had he return of Garrett the all-in fiery alto sax improviser. First in company with Melvis Santa but this time Garrett’s raw sax and Santa’s smooth jazz vocalese clashed, which I think was the point.

Then in the following and last number before the inevitable encore, it was Garrett and double bassist Holt with Holt keeping up with the incredible seed of Garrett’s playing and both backed by just Bruner’s drums. Holt’s fingers must have been sore afterwards.

Garrett then continued unaccompanied on a virtuosic excursion that had references to My Favourite Things’, Coltrane once more, ‘The Flight of the Bumble Bee’ and Sonny Rollins’ ‘St. Thomas’. Here was core evidence of why Garrett has won the best alto sax category in Downbeat magazine’s annual readers’ poll multiple times. It was a seven minute tour de force that had me wondering about how Garrett, who is a slight figure and now 65, sustains the power, the bursts of speed and the leaps up and down the register for this length of time.

The encore commenced with what could have been ‘Chasing the Wind’ from Garrett’s album of 2016 ‘Do Your Dance’ and the audience did, flooding the small area in the front of stage and standing up from their seats and moving in situ. Along the way Brown, Holt and Bruner briefly had the music to themselves and they sounded like they’d be a great piano trio.

The final final number saw Garrett not on alto but back at his keyboard and playing chords in a style very reminiscent of Herbie Hancock’s contribution to Miles Davis’ 1969 album ‘In a Silent Way’. Garrett gave the last of what had been regular name-checks of band members as one after the other they exited stage left to leaving Garrett alone on the stage. There was an inadvertent comic “Oh he’s gone.” moment when Garrett name checked Ronald Bruner and then realised he’d already left,

While this low key conclusion to the concert was a surprise it didn’t dampen the audience’s enthusiasm audience and they clapped and cheered wildly at the end.
Nothing had come close to matching the scorching opening minutes. It would have been remarkable and probably draining for both musicians and audience if the intensity, tension and excitement had continued at that level. The only other number that was anywhere near to being in the same ball park was towards the end when first Garrett and Holt combined and Garret went on to play that virtuosic solo. These two peaks alone were worth proverbial price of a ticket.

After the blistering start it was inevitable that much of what followed did seem paler in comparison. I don’t know yet how much of the music in-between the two peaks will stay in the memory, but being a fan of African music the track ‘For Art’s Sake ’ and the names Keith Brown, Corcoran Holt and Ronald Bruner are likely to remain lodged there.

I’d have liked some introductions to the numbers but perhaps Garrett’s way of communicating with an audience is a hundred percent through his music. But I didn’t like the frequent hand gestures urging the already febrile audience to give even more. It felt disrespectful of how much they were giving already. The atmosphere they created from even before a single note had been played was a highlight, and their contribution was vital in keeping things lively between the two outstanding musical moments that bookended the gig.

When it comes to Garrett’s piano playing for me there was much of it and not enough quality. on the evidence of tonight’s concert I ended up feeling about his piano playing as I do about Herbie Hancock playing a vocoder, I wish they wouldn’t in public.

When it comes to Kenny Garrett the alto sax improviser I feel the exact opposite. All his honours and poll victories do not lie. His playing hit some awe-inspiring heights, sometimes literally when soaring to the upper register of his instrument’s range.

Overall while there were some disappointing aspects to the night, it was a very enjoyable and fascinating experience, and I feel lucky, even privileged, to have been able to be there.

Thanks go to Emmanuelle Gantié-Spagnol for organising a press ticket plus one for me.

COLIN MAY

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