11.05.09 | Benito Gonzalez new CD - It's done.
After spending a whole day @ systems two studios in NYC my new recording it's done!
i want to thanks Christian Mcbride, Jeff Tain Watts, Myron Walden, Ron Blake, Azar Lawrence. the music sounds Amazing this guy's where unbelievable , We did had a great team work... great times. The album will be out in August 2010.
thanks for your support BG.

09.19.09 | New Album.
hey hey, i will be recording my next album the first week of november 09 in NYC.
and i will have GREAT GREAT musicians, the music its great, i'm so happy to share this album w/ you all, it will be release August 2010.

peace

bg

09.02.08 | Kenny Garrett's New Album 'Sketches of MD' feat: Benito Gonzalez piano, Jamire Williams Drums, Nat Revees Bass, And special Guest Pharoah Sanders.
Kenny Garrett (sax); Pharoah Sanders (sax); Nat Reeves (bass); Benito Gonzalez (Piano,keyboards); Jamire Williams (drums).

Sketches of MD, is the Mack Avenue debut for multiple Grammy® nominee Kenny Garrett. It’s also the first live recording of the Kenny Garrett/Pharoah Sanders pairing, and Garrett’s first recorded set at New York City’s famed Iridium Jazz Club. In addition to Sanders, Garrett is backed by Nat Reeves on bass, Benito Gonzalez on Piano/Keyboards and Jamire Williams on drums.

09.01.08 | Jazzinprov NYC
KENNY GARRETT
SKETCHES OF MD: LIVEATTHE IRIDIUM
–Mack Avenue Records MAC1042. 19900 Harper,
Harper Woods, MI 48225. Web: www.kennygar-
rett.com. The Ring; Intro to Africa; Sketches of MD;
Wayne’s Thang; Happy People
PERSONNEL: Kenny Garrett, alto saxophone;
Pharoah Sanders, tenor saxophone; Nat Reeves, bass;
Benito Gonzalez, keyboards; Jamire Williams, drums
By Curtis Davenport
Though he is not yet 50, Kenny Garrett has been
a major player on the jazz scene forabout a quarter
century. He recorded his first date as a leader in 1984
and since then, he has compiled as impressive list of
credits as any jazz musician of his generation. He has
been a Jazz Messenger, the catalyst in Miles Davis’
last group, the lone sax player on the memorable
Freddie Hubbard/Woody Shaw sessions, a member
of the revived Blue Note records showcase group Out
of the Blue (OTB) and recorded over a dozen sessions
as a leader or co-leader, the latest of which is a live
recording that showcases his latest group, that in-
cludes the legendary Pharoah Sanders; recorded live
at NYC’s Iridium Jazz Club. The disc, called Sketches
of MD: Live at the Iridium, is like a lot of Mr. Gar-
rett’s work through the years; energetic, funky and
decidedly unconventional.
The seeds for this disc grew out of Garrett’s desire
to document the band that he took on the road in sup-
port of his last disc, 2006’s Beyond the Wall. As he be-
gan to write new songs and reach back for some older
ones, the concept slowly evolved into a sort of Miles
tribute. However it is not in homage to Davis’ com-
positions or those associated with him, but instead
Sketches of MD “reflect(s) the artistry of key sidemen
from [Davis’] many groups”. So what we are listening
to is this by now drum-tight group spurred on by a
supportive audience, giving us their broad takes on the
styles of Coltrane, Shorter, Cannonball and Garrett
himself, with selections all penned by Mr. Garrett.
The disc starts with “The Ring”, a new composi-
tion that owes a little of its melody line to Mingus’
“Goodbye Porkpie Hat” and its insistent rhythm to
Coltrane and “A Love Supreme”. The rhythm sec-
tion of pianist Benito Gonzalez, drummer Jamire
Williams, both newcomers and bassist Nat Reeves
(who has recorded and played with Garrett, on and
off through the years, stretching back to Garrett’s de-
but album), are marvelous on this track, as they are
throughout the disc. I sense that they were pushing
the two reedmen; Gonzalez comping like McCoy be-
hind Trane and Williams channeling the spirit of El-
vin, as he drops bomb after bomb. Garrett responds
with some of the fieriest playing I’ve heard from him
in some time, stretching the boundaries of the song
structure. Then comes Pharoah, whose mere presence
strengthens the Trane connection, but Mr. Sanders
makes it clear that he is not just along for the ride,
soloing powerfully; punctuating his lines with some
of his trademark trills and squalls. I read an article
recently in which Sanders was lamenting his lack of
work over the last few years, “I would love to work,
but no one calls me...” he said. I’m glad Garrett did
because Sanders’ presence makes this date really come
alive (other cats should pick up their phones as well
at 68, Pharoah still sounds great). The opening track
is further enhanced by a rich, rolling piano solo from
Mr. Gonzalez, a versatile young player who perme-
ates his straight-ahead playing with World rhythms.
The next track is “Intro to Africa”, a piece infused
with the rhythms and mournful sounds of old-time
black gospel music. Gonzalez really set the mood
with his piano and organ fills. Garrett then takes
over using effects on his alto that make him some-
times sound like a sweat drenched preacher in mid-
sermon. “Intro to Africa” is said to be the first part of
a suite that Garrett plans to record in its entirety in
the near future. I look forward to hearing the rest of
it. “Wayne’s Thang”, a tribute to another saxophon-
ist with Miles connections, Wayne Shorter, is not a
new tune. Garrett previously recorded it on his Triol-
ogy album in 1995. While that trio version went for
the gumbo, this one goes for the funk with Reeves
and Williams dropping an irresistible rump-shaking
groove and Gonzalez giving us some wah-wah key-
board and organ straight out of those classic CTI
sessions of the seventies. Garrett and Sanders add
to the jam-session feel with their in the pocket solo
riffs. The disc closes with another Garrett “classic”,
the title cut from his Happy People disc of a few years
ago. The Miles connection here is a sound that comes
straight out of the latter part Cannonball Adderley’s
soul-groove period. Garrett even kicks the tune off
doing a very un-Milesian thing; imploring the crowd
to “make some noise up in here” and adding a couple
of hip-hoppish ‘unh-unh’s, before he breaks into the
infectious melody. And it’s clear from the audience’s
spontaneous scatting of the refrain, that they truly
were happy people by the end of this night. Kenny
Garrett had given them what they wanted, without
losing his artistic integrity.
Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium has the spon-
taneous feel that one expects from a live jazz album,
with the bonus that the musicians and the audience
all seem to be enjoying themselves. Though these are
compositions that they’ve played before, the band is
clearly trying out something new with their approach
to each tune which for me, made things far more inter-
esting. The most important thing was not the perfect
note, but exploring the groove and it was a fun trip.

07.22.08 | John Fordham The Guardian July 13 2006

John Fordham
The Guardian, Thursday July 13 2006

Jazz-improv purists often wince if anybody refers to a performance as an "act". The notion suggests something premeditated, even calculating. Yet Kenny Garrett, the former Art Blakey and Miles Davis alto saxophonist who has been running a triumphant show of his own for nearly 20 years, manages to stage what is unmistakably an "act" without blunting his jazz edge.

Garrett was previewing a new album - Beyond the Wall, dedicated to McCoy Tyner, which is released next month. His gig strategy is characteristically adventurous: at the outset, he hoses the audience with scalding Coltranesque free-jazz, then gets steadily funkier as the show goes on. Rocking on his feet like a possessed preacher, Garrett began by pouring his unflagging melodic inventiveness into a 15-minute monologue, while his fiery young band thrashed around him. Impressive Venezuelan piano newcomer Benito Gonzalez (a Tyner devotee) took over for a similar flame-throwing exercise, and bassist Kris Funn demonstrated an agile articulation, coupled with a penetrating earthiness. Garrett then launched into a bugged, organ-toned sax solo, set the audience clapping the beat, and blew clipped call-and-response figures against it.

Garrett's composing knack isn't far from Herbie Hancock's; once he began feeding his listeners the anthemic song-like melodies he's built album successes on, he had the crowd softly singing while he improvised airily over the top. Turning to soprano sax, he and Gonzalez then played a meditative medley of Japanese and Korean folk songs that held the club in complete silence. Garrett wound the show up with the infectious Happy People, a dance-floor groover that Eddie Harris or Grover Washington would have been proud of. Maybe it's an act - but of the unique kind you can only get from four consummate contemporary jazz improvisers.