Carlos Garnett

An intense tenor soloist, Carlos Garnett seemed to largely disappear from jazz after the late '70s, but re-emerged 20 years later playing better than ever. He grew up in Panama, started playing tenor in 1957, and early on performed calypso and Latin music. In 1962, Garnett moved to New York, working with rock groups and struggling a bit, but listening closely to the free jazz saxophonists. He gained some recognition for his work with Freddie Hubbard (1968-1969), Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1969-1970), and Charles Mingus, and had an important stint with Miles Davis in 1972. Garnett also worked with Jack McDuff, Andrew Hill, Gary Bartz, and Norman Connors during the era and recorded five albums of his own for Muse during 1974-1977 that ranged from exploratory music to attempts at commercialism. Carlos Garnett was musically inactive during much of the 1980s, but started a comeback in 1991. In 1996, he made one of his finest albums (Fuego en Mi Alma, for the HighNote label) in a style little changed since the '70s.