Music
Kenny Garrett
born 1960 · jazz alto and soprano saxophonist, flutist, composer
Detroit-born alto saxophonist who went straight from Mackenzie High School into the Duke Ellington Orchestra and later played in Miles Davis's band.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 65- Detroit years
- 1960–1978
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kenny Garrett was born in Detroit in 1960 and grew up in a home where the saxophone was already familiar. He attended Mackenzie High School on the city's west side, and on graduating in 1978 he was invited to join the Duke Ellington Orchestra, then led by Duke's son Mercer Ellington, an extraordinary start for an 18-year-old. In the years that followed he played and recorded with Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw, and he became best known as the alto saxophonist in Miles Davis's band in the late 1980s. He recorded his first album as a leader, Introducing Kenny Garrett, in 1984 and has led his own groups ever since, blending post-bop with gospel, funk and world music. His 2021 album Sounds from the Ancestors drew on the Detroit music of his youth, and he was named an NEA Jazz Master.
Highlights
- 1978 graduate of Detroit's Mackenzie High School
- Joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra under Mercer Ellington at 18
- Alto saxophonist in Miles Davis's band
- First album as leader: Introducing Kenny Garrett (1984)
- Named an NEA Jazz Master
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1974–1978
Mackenzie High School (site)
Demolished · 1928–2007
West-side public high school with Pewabic tile decoration, from which he graduated in 1978. It closed in 2007 and was demolished in 2012; a new Mackenzie Elementary-Middle School stands on the site.