His first formal studies in the performing arts came at the age of four with tap dance lessons and from age 5 to 9 with the study of piano. Throughout middle school and into high school his most prominent musical studies came through his participation in various chamber choirs, madrigals and a show choir. He figured out the basic coordination of playing the drums from watching a music video of the pop band "The Police", in which the drummer Stewart Copeland played a simple beat. After this, his mother heeded his requests to study percussion. At age 14, Mr. Garnett began the formal study of percussion.

Mr. Garnett’s first exposure to the true discipline of playing Jazz came at the age of 16. While still a junior in High School and participating in an All-County High School Jazz Band, Ellis Marsalis, introduced him to the names of Master Jazz Drummers. Mr. Marsalis advised him to obtain the recordings of Max Roach in particular and many others including "Papa" Jo Jones, "Philly" Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, Billy Higgins, James Black, and Ed Blackwell.

Mr. Garnett earned his Bachelor of Arts in Instrumental Performance/ Jazz Studies in 1993 from Virginia Commonwealth University. Three months after graduation, Mr. Garnett received a call coincidentally on the same day from both Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln to come to New York for auditions. After moving to New York, he worked with Betty Carter’s trio in the Fall of 1993 and Winter of 1994 while at the same time becoming a member of Abbey Lincoln’s quartet for over 2 years. He was also a member of Cyrus Chestnut’s trio for over two years from 1996 until May of 1998. In November 1997 Mr. Garnett rejoined Abbey Lincoln’s Quartet at a legendary concert held at Columbia University. He remained in that group up until the Summer of 1998. Beginning in the Spring of 1998 Mr. Garnett began touring extensively with both Regina Carter and James Carter.

Mr. Garnett has appeared on Great Performances on PBS in a tribute to Kurt Weill along with Betty Carter, a live record with Teddy Edwards, the CD’s Earth Stories with Cyrus Chestnut and Who Used To Dance with Abbey Lincoln. He also played on James Carter’s In Carterian Fashion. Other recorded performances include Stefon Harris’ A Cloud of Red Dust on Blue Note records and Abbey Lincoln’s latest recording, Wholly Earth. He has also performed at many notable Jazz Festivals. Some of them are the JVC Jazz Festivals of NY and Paris, The Newport Jazz Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival, The Vienne Jazz Festival, The Montreux Jazz Festival, The DuMaurier Jazz Festival, The Nice Jazz Festival, The San Francisco Jazz Festival, The Monterey Jazz Festival, and The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The summer and fall of 1999 will see him touring extensively with violin virtuoso Regina Carter.

See more at his website, alvestergarnett.com.