7:00 p.m. Adam Bałdych Quintet
Adam Bałdych – violin
Marek Konarski – saxophone
Krzysztof Dys – piano
Andrzej Święs – bass
Dawid Fortuna – drums
photo: press materials
The Adam Bałdych Quintet is a project by violinist Adam Bałdych, co-founded with Marek Konarski (saxophone), Krzysztof Dys (piano), Michał Barański (double bass) and Dawid Fortuna (drums).
The quintet, following its critically acclaimed album SACRUM PROFANUM, which has brought them second prize and the 2021 BMW WELT Audience Award, returns with POETRY recorded with Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu for the German ACT Music label. In 2022, Adam Bałdych invited classical violinist Agata Szymczewska to collaborate with his quintet, jointly producing LEGEND dedicated to the music of Henryk Wieniawski.
The artists combine many elements of broadly defined contemporary music, creating multifaceted and authentic sound that goes beyond the definition of jazz. In addition to their own compositions, they draw upon classical pieces – from early music to contemporary artists, focusing on the process of deconstructing the original and turning it into a part of their own musical expression to obtain new quality.
Kenny Garrett and Sounds From The Ancestors
Kenny Garrett – alto and tenor sax
Melvis Santa – vocals & keyboard
Keith Brown – acoustic piano
Eric Wheeler – acoustic bass
Rudy Bird – percussion
Jaylen Petinaud – drums
photo: press materials
Sounds from the Ancestors is Kenny Garrett’s twentieth original album and his fifth for the Mack Avenue label, based in the saxophonist’s hometown of Detroit.
During the recording session Garrett was accompanied by pianist Vernell Brown Jr., bassist Corcoran Holt, drummer Ronald Bruner and percussionist Rudy Bird. The album also features dozens of guests, adding vocals, percussion, trumpet, organ and Fender Rhodes to the musical landscape. The leader himself, apart from the saxophone, used an electric piano and a grand piano.
There are eight tracks on the just over an hour long release. It’s Time to Come Home both opens (in the version with vocalists) and closes (with an instrumental alternative) the whole album. The saxophonist decided to reach back to his childhood memories, recalling the remembered musical atmospheres and emotions in the original compositions. The starting point here is the “sounds of the ancestors” of the title. The saxophonist transfers his Afro-Cuban heritage to contemporary genres: jazz, gospel, hip-hop and R&B.
photo: press materials
Two tracks Garrett has planned as personal tributes: Hargrove – featuring trumpet player Maurice Brown – is dedicated to the memory of Roy Hargrove, while “For Art.’s Sake” is a nod to Art Blakey. Attentive listeners will find references to Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” in the former track.
Kenny Garrett’s comeback after five years of phonographic silence is “with a bang”. The album is excellent and is one of the best in the whole discography of this great artist.
