Carlos Garnett (born December 1, 1938) is a Panamanian-American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
saxophonist.
Biography
Garnett was born on December 1, 1938, in
Red Tank,
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...
.
He was interested in jazz after hearing the music of
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...
and
James Moody in short films.
He taught himself to play saxophone as a teenager and played with soldiers from the nearby United States Army base.
In 1957 he started playing in
calypso and
Latin music
Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...
groups.
After moving to New York in 1962, he played in a rock 'n' roll group led by Leo Price. Around this time he also started learning
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
, being self-taught and having always played by ear. Jazz trumpeter
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...
hired him in 1968 and introduced him to many New York musicians. Garnett's first recording was Hubbard's 1969 album ''
A Soul Experiment
''A Soul Experiment'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard recorded between 1968/1969 and released in 1969. It was his third release on the Atlantic label and features performances by Hubbard, Carlos Garnett, Kenny Barro ...
'', which contained two original compositions by him.
In the late 1960s and early 1970 Garnett also played with
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers,
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...
and
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
.
He led his own group called the Universal Black Force.
His group recorded five albums for three years between 1974 and 1977.
In 1982, Garnett, suffering from depression and drug abuse, experienced a spiritual awakening and stopped playing music for years.
He began performing again in 1991
and released the albums ''Fuego en mi alma'' (1996), ''Under Nubian Skies'' (1999) and ''Moon Shadow'' (2001). In 2000 he moved back to Panama.
Garnett has performed at three editions of the annual Panama Jazz Festival. The 9th Annual Panama Jazz Festival in 2012, organized by Panamanian pianist
Danilo Perez
Danilo is a given name found in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian.
Notable people with the name Danilo include:
Athletes Footballers
* Danilo (footballer, born 1979), Brazilian footballer Danilo de Andrade
* Danilo (footballer, born 19 ...
, was dedicated to Carlos Garnett in recognition of his contribution to music.
He has been invited to perform in Japan, where they were interested in his earlier "funk" music, and in Austria twice. His album ''Shekina's Smile'' was named after his daughter.
Discography
As leader
* ''
Journey to Enlightenment
''Journey to Enlightenment'' is an album by saxophonist Carlos Garnett which was recorded in 1974 and released on the Muse Records, Muse label. '' (Muse, 1974)
* ''
Black Love
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of visible spectrum, visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or fi ...
'' (
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
, 1974)
* ''
Let This Melody Ring On
''Let This Melody Ring On'' is an album by saxophonist Carlos Garnett which was recorded in 1975 and released on the Muse label.HighNote
HighNote Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Joe Fields with his son, Barney Fields, in 1997.
Joe Fields worked for Prestige Records in the 1960s, and in the 1970s founded Muse Records. After he sold Muse, he started the Highn ...
, 1996)
* ''Under Nubian Skies'' (HighNote, 1999)
* ''Moon Shadow'' (
Savant
Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...
, 2001)
As sideman
With
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
* ''
In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall'' (Columbia, 1972)
* ''
On the Corner
''On the Corner'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis. It was recorded in June and July 1972 and released on October 11 of the same year by Columbia Records. The album continued Davis's exploration o ...
'' (Columbia, 1972)
* ''
Big Fun'' (Columbia, 1974)
* ''
Get Up with It
''Get Up with It'' is a compilation album by American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis. Released by Columbia Records on November 22, 1974, it compiled songs Davis had recorded in sessions between 1970 and 1974, including those f ...
'' (Columbia, 1974)
With
Norman Connors
Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer who has led a number of influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads. He is pos ...
* ''Dance of Magic'' (1972)
* ''Dark of Light'' (1973)
* ''Love from the Sun'' (Buddah, 1974)
* ''Slewfoot'' (1975)
* ''Saturday Night Special'' (1976)
With
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
* ''Black Unity'', 1971
* ''
Live at the East
''Live at the East'' is a live album by American saxophonist and composer Pharoah Sanders released on the Impulse! Records, Impulse! label. '' (Impulse!, 1972)
With others
* ''
A Soul Experiment
''A Soul Experiment'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard recorded between 1968/1969 and released in 1969. It was his third release on the Atlantic label and features performances by Hubbard, Carlos Garnett, Kenny Barro ...
'',
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...
(Atlantic, 1969)
* ''
Jazz Messengers '70
''Jazz Messengers '70'' is a live album by drummer Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers recorded in Tokyo in 1970 and originally released on the Catalyst label.Art Blakey
Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s.
Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...
(Catalyst, 1970)
* ''
Lift Every Voice'',
Andrew Hill (Blue Note, 1970)
* ''
Understanding
Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to use concepts to model that object.
Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object o ...
'',
Roy Brooks
Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American jazz drummer.
Biography Early life
Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in church. He was a ...
(Reel to Real, recorded 1970)
* ''Terra Nova'',
Robin Kenyatta
Robin Kenyatta (March 6, 1942 – October 26, 2004) was an American jazz alto saxophonist.
Early life
Born Robert Prince Haynes in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Kenyatta grew up in New York City and began playing the saxophone at age 14. He was ...
(1973)
* ''I'll Do Anything for You'',
Denroy Morgan
Denroy Morgan (15 May 1945 – 3 March 2022) was a Jamaican-born American reggae artist. Morgan traveled to the United States in 1965, at the age of 20, to become a musician. He was part of the formation of the Black Eagles, a New York City regga ...
(1991)
* ''Slammin' & Jammin'',
Charles Earland
Charles Earland (May 24, 1941 – December 11, 1999) was an American jazz organist.
Biography
Earland was born in Philadelphia and learned to play the saxophone in high school. He played tenor with Jimmy McGriff at the age of 17 and in 1960 form ...
(1998)
* ''Jersey Blues'',
Woody Shaw
Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpet ...
(2004)
* ''Ghetto Child'', Charley Anderson (2008)
See also
*
List of jazz arrangers
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or develo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garnett, Carlos
1938 births
Living people
American jazz tenor saxophonists
American male saxophonists
American jazz soprano saxophonists
American jazz alto saxophonists
The Jazz Messengers members
Muse Records artists
21st-century saxophonists
American male jazz musicians
HighNote Records artists