Graham Haynes

Growing up as the offspring of drummer Roy Haynes placed Graham Haynes amid jazz musicians from an early age, with his Hollis, Queens surroundings also serving as the longtime residence of Roy Eldridge, Milt Jackson, and Jaki Byard. He shared membership in the same high-school ensemble with bassist Marcus Miller. An ongoing collaboration with saxophonist Steve Coleman began in 1982, leading to Haynes’s appearance on the saxophonist’s debut album Motherland Pulse in 1985, which introduced the young Geri Allen as well. While occasional passages in his output suggest experimental leanings, his Miles-ian cornet too frequently occupies static, synthesized funk-oriented settings that leave the core lyricism of his playing unsupported. Attraction to diverse world-music traditions surfaces plainly on releases such as 1994’s The Griot’s Footsteps.