Year: 2024
Time: 35:19
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 82,1 MB
Art: Front
(3:54) 1. Ascendence
(5:10) 2. Miles Running Down AI
(5:11) 3. Transcendence
(5:09) 4. Divergence Tu-dah
(3:06) 5. Ladies
(6:15) 6. My Funny Valentine
(6:30) 7. Convergence
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.By Matt Collarhttps://www.allmusic.com/album/who-killed-ai--mw0004208055#review
Personnel: Kenny Garrett - Saxophone, Vocal; Svoy - Piano
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.By Matt Collarhttps://www.allmusic.com/album/who-killed-ai--mw0004208055#review
Personnel: Kenny Garrett - Saxophone, Vocal; Svoy - Piano
Who Killed AI?