2008兩廳院夏日爵士派對：肯尼‧賈瑞特爵士四重奏

Kenny Garrett Presents

基本資料

薩克斯風/肯尼‧賈瑞特

試著想像一位外貌堂皇的人士，身著耐吉套頭衫、頭戴一頂俄羅斯帽、手套及圍巾，以躲避十二月的寒流，卻試圖打入人脈關係交織極其錯綜複雜的亞洲社會。他是馳名國際的薩克斯風手，但他並非為了演奏纔來到亞洲。他是對不同的信仰保有永久的好奇心的學子，但他所追求的不單是靈性而已。除了待在他所熟悉的西式旅館之外，他選擇敞開心懷接受中國文化的薰陶。當某些當地人對他說英文時，他堅持以中國話與他們交談。他特別撥出三個禮拜的時間去體驗這個遙不可及的國度的語言、音樂及文化，此地民眾的哲學觀曾使他迷惑良久。他並非到此控制他們，而是來取樣，終極目的是將他們置於他自學習及旅行所獲得的其它經驗的相同背景中。

這位背負著使命的人士即世界一流的音樂家肯尼‧賈瑞特。

這位薩克斯風手兼作曲家靈性漫遊所收成的果實被編入他親自帶領的第11張專輯[Beyond the Wall] ( 他為Nonesuch Records錄製的首張專輯 ) 裡柔膩又似無垠的歌曲裡。為了將這項錄音計畫的九首歌付諸實現，賈瑞特召集了包括薩克斯風手法老‧宋德斯、電顫琴手鮑比‧哈契森、鋼琴手穆爾格羅‧米勒、鼓手布萊恩‧布列德及羅伯‧赫斯特三世等跨文化的菁英共同協助。儘管這群人士都是爵士樂界的中堅份子，他們集思廣益，為[Beyond the Wall]專輯所寫的音樂是無法歸類、無法明確指出它的風格的融合爵士。

「對我而言，中國的百姓非常神祕，因為他們總是與外界隔絕。」賈瑞特如此說道。「縱使在美國，他們也選擇住在他們自己的""中國城""社區。我讀過關於中國哲學的書，直覺感到這個文化藏有某種吸引我的東西。我喜歡儒家思想的單純性，他們天人合一的精神，包括像掃落葉這麼簡單的事情都顯示出天人合一的精神。」不消說，賈瑞特的興趣亦投注在音樂上頭。「當我準備發行這張CD時，」他繼續說道。「我先試著加入非洲與中國的元素。我將他們所寫的關於養生的書拿來作比較，我找到了許多相似性。我開始思考，我是否能夠將非洲及中國音樂中的靈性觀點連接在一起。幾年前，我創作了[Beyond the Wall]這首歌。我一直想前往中國大陸，所以我寫下關於長城的歌來鼓舞自己前赴中國大陸......就像擬訂工作計畫一般。」

[Beyond the Wall]的曲韻題獻給地位崇高的鋼琴手麥考依‧泰納。賈瑞特對自己能夠與曾經擔任他心目中的英雄約翰‧柯川的四重奏團員之一的爵士傳奇人物麥考依‧泰納共事感到非常自豪。肯尼在鋼琴上譜寫這張專輯中的大部分歌曲時，腦海中只以麥考依‧泰納變化多端的演奏技巧為念，他希望有榮幸請到這位大師參與錄音。不幸的是，時間的安排上有所衝突，最後肯尼的願望並未成真。「先前接觸過我寫的這些歌曲的樂手為穆爾格羅‧米勒，」肯尼表示。「我給他看所有的分譜。我不想要穆爾格羅演奏得像麥考依，但我曉得他瞭解麥考依的風格，並能夠創造出我期待的悸動。當其他樂手都就位後，我將音樂的概念大略說明了一下，並不是談我覺得錄音過程中該怎麼演奏，而是談我在譜曲時心裡浮現的意念。」

在他的職業演奏生涯中，多次獲得葛萊美獎提名的肯尼‧賈瑞特已經探索過廣泛的音樂範疇。他陽剛但旋律蕩漾的演奏從他與關鍵性但風格迥異的爵士傳奇樂手，如：亞特‧布雷基、狄基‧吉列斯皮及邁爾‧戴維斯，搖滾天王史汀、彼得‧嘉布瑞爾及布魯斯‧史普林斯丁，以及前衛饒舌的先驅GURU等巨星合作的錄音可窺得一端。

肯尼的藝術歷程走來一帆風順。出生於底特律的他自幼由擔任高音薩克斯風手的父親啟蒙學習薩克斯風，而他在家中隨時都可聽到爵士音樂；此外，底特律也是聆賞第一手的靈魂樂、福音歌曲、甚至古典樂的好地方。當肯尼在 1978年獲得艾靈頓公爵大樂園 ( 當時由艾靈頓公爵之子莫塞‧艾靈頓帶領 ) 錄取時，他壓根就把申請大學的事丟到腦後了。三年後，肯尼前往紐約，與梅爾‧路易士大樂團 ( 接收薩德‧瓊斯的曲目 ) 及丹尼‧瑞奇蒙爵士五重奏 ( 演奏查爾斯‧明加斯的音樂 ) 合作。

他擔任主角的第一張專輯[Introducing Kenny Garrett]在1984年由Criss Cross唱片發行，同段時間，他也與弗瑞迪‧哈巴德及伍迪‧蕭合作錄音。1986年，邁爾‧戴維斯來電邀請他共事，接下來五年內，兩人合錄的四張專輯成為肯尼生命及事業上永難忘懷的印記。對於他拾得的這些珍寶，肯尼表示： 「邁爾士的特殊才華在他能夠誘導出其他音樂家最出色的特質，但不致於控制他們。他讓他們自由發揮，同時也得到他想要的東西。」

當肯尼為Atlantic唱片錄了兩張專輯[Prisoner of Love]及[African Exchange Student]之後，他與華納兄弟唱片公司簽約，從此展開一系列備受讚揚且挑戰聽眾的錄音，如[Black Hope] ( 1992 ) 、[Triology] ( 1995 ) 、[Pursuance： The Music of John Coltrane] ( 1996 ) 、 [Songbook] ( 1997 ) 、[Simply Said] ( 1999 ) 、[Happy People] ( 2002 ) 及 [Standard of Language] ( 2003 ) 等。這段閃亮時日的成果包括專輯獲得四顆星的評論及成為眾多巨星追求的伴奏，錄過百張以上的專輯。

Kenny Garrett, saxophone

Imagine a stately man-wearing a Nike sweat suit, a Russian hat, gloves and a scarf braving the dead of December -trying to blend into the fabric of a close-knit Asian community. He is a world renowned saxophonist, but he is not here to play. He is an incessantly curious student of religions, but there is more than spirituality on his agenda. Instead of staying in the familiarity of a western hotel, he has elected to immerse himself in the culture of China."" And while some of the locals speak some English, he insists on speaking their language. He has taken three weeks of his personal time to experience the language, music and culture of a faraway land's people whose philosophies have mystified him for much of his lifetime. He is not here to master them, but to sample them, ultimately placing them in a context with other experiences from his studies and travels.

This man on a mission is world-class musician Kenny Garrett.

The fruits of the saxophonis/composer's spiritual sojourn have been woven into the silken and hopsack songs of his eleventh recording as a leader, Beyond the Wall (his first for Nonesuch Records). To bring the project's nine songs to life, Garrett assembled a cross-cultural cornucopia of masters that includes saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Mulgrew Miller, drummer Brian Blade and bassist Robert Hurst, Ⅲ. Though these gentlemen are all stalwarts of jazz, much of the music they bring forth on Beyond the Wall proves to be a chameleonic fusion beyond category.

""The people of China were so mysterious to me because they were so isolated,"" Garrett shares. ""Even in America, many choose to live in their own 'Chinatown' communities. I have read books on Chinese philosophy and intuitively felt that there is something in the culture for me. There is simplicity to Confucianism that I love...how in tune they are with nature and how something as simple as raking the leaves can put you in tune with the universe."" Naturally, Garrett's interest also turned to music. ""Preparing this CD,"" he continues, ""I was initially trying to join Africa and China. I was comparing books on their approach to health and saw many similarities. I wondered if I could connect the spiritual aspects of Africa and China in music. I'd written the song 'Beyond the Wall' a few years before. I always dreamt of going to mainland China. So I wrote a song about the wall to inspire me to get there...like writing out my plan.""

The spirit of Beyond the Wall is dedicated to majestic pianist McCoy Tyner. Garrett is proud to have shared the band-stand with the jazz legend who was also a member of the great quartet led by Kenny's hero, John Coltrane. Kenny composed most of the album's songs on piano with Tyner's protean strength in mind in hopes that the master would grace the sessions with his presence. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts prevented him from doing so. ""The only person who got to deal with the music beforehand was Mulgrew,"" Kenny shares. ""I showed him all of the voicings. I didn't want Mulgrew to play like McCoy, but I knew he understood McCoy and would get the vibe that I wanted. When everyone else arrived, I talked about the music conceptually -not about what I thought should happen on the session, but what I was thinking when I wrote the songs.

"" Throughout his career, multiple Grammy-nominee Kenny Garrett has explored a vast spectrum of music. His muscular yet melodic playing can be heard on recordings by artists as definitive and diverse as jazz legends Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, rock royalty Sting, Peter Gabriel and Bruce Springsteen, and progressive rap pioneer GURU.

The road to Kenny's artistry has been a blessed one. Born in Detroit, he was introduced to the saxophone early by his father, who played tenor. Jazz was all around the house, but Detroit also offered ample opportunity to explore soul, gospel, even classical firsthand. College was placed on the backburner when, in 1978, Garrett was offered a slot in the Duke Ellington Orchestra (then under the direction of Duke's son, Mercer Ellington). Three years later, Kenny moved to New York and played with The Mel Lewis Orchestra (absorbing the charts of Thad Jones) and the Dannie Richmond Quintet (playing the music of Charles Mingus).

He released his first album as a leader, Introducing Kenny Garrett"" in 1984 on the Criss Cross label during the years he was also recording with Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. Then Miles Davis called in 1986 and the ensuing five-year/four-album association left an indelible imprint on both Kenny's life and career. Of the many pearls he gleaned, Kenny says, ""Miles' genius was getting the best out of musicians but not controlling them -letting them be free, but also getting what he wanted from them.""

Following two albums for Atlantic Records -Prisoner of Love and African Exchange Student -Kenny signed to Warner Bros. where he began an impressive string of acclaimed and audience-challenging recordings: B1ack Hope (1992), Triology (1995), Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane (1996), Songbook (1997), Simply Said (1999), Happy People (2002) and Standard of Language (2003). This shining period brought 4-star album reviews and well over 100 credits as a sought-after sideman.

肯尼‧賈瑞特爵士四重奏

Kenny Garrett Presents

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