(Mack Avenue)

Grammy-winning, journeyman saxophonist Kenny Garrett is back with his first  acoustic studio album since 2006. Seeds From The Underground (due out on April10) picks up where he left off very nicely. The album is highlighted by the kind of powerful, emotive, wailing alto work and gentle soprano tones, we’ve come to expect, as are the African percussion rhythms that have been a central to his recordings for the last 20 years. The set is comprised of completely new compositions built on melodic underpinnings,, around which the solos are developed. The songs themselves are some of the most personal, with tributes to musical mentors, friends and his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Accompanying Garrett on this effort are pianist Benito Gonzalez, bassist Nat Reeves, drummer Ronald Bruner, percussionist Rudy Bird and vocalist Nedelka Prescod, among others. This project is less a “statement” that Garrett is back as a composer, but one that reminds us that he never left.