Kenny G

radhead · Apr 27, 2008

jwp said:
Nobody has answered or pointed out why he isn't a jazz sax player...Care to explain?

That's a good point. Maybe people like Kenny G are the only true jazz players of today. True jazz players have always tried to create something new, not *duplicate* music from 40 or 50 years ago.

artybloke · Apr 28, 2008

True jazz players have always tried to create something new, not *duplicate* music from 40 or 50 years ago.

Personally, I've never said he wasn't a jazz sax player. Just that he's not a very good one. I find him boring. And to say that he's producing something "new" is frankly ridiculous. Only someone who is ignorant of current jazz could say that Kenny G is doing anything new. He makes Winston Marsalis sound like a raging revolutionary.

Oh, and just because I'm not a musician doesn't mean I can't judge music.

radhead · Apr 28, 2008

I listen to jazz from 30's to the present. I have done so for almost 20 years. As far as current jazz goes, I like Kenny G more than most current players.

artybloke · Apr 28, 2008

Some people prefer Sidney Sheldon to Norman Mailer. No accounting for taste.

jwp · Apr 28, 2008

radhead said:
That's a good point. Maybe people like Kenny G are the only true jazz players of today. True jazz players have always tried to create something new, not *duplicate* music from 40 or 50 years ago.

Sorry Rad, you are so wrong, in the guitar world I can't tell you how many guitar players imitated the earlier sax players. Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery all considered top notch jazz players all emulated the sax players that were popular in their day. Your statement holds no water. In fact Joe Pass even has a training video he released before he died where he talked about how to do the great phrasings of Rollins, Parker et. al.

In fact many ragtime acoustic jazz pieces were direct transcriptions of Fats Waller.

Sorry bud, you're off base on this one. In fact just listen to how many jazz artists copied Miles Davis Kind of Blue sound in the early 50's in fact you'll here sax players of the day stealing 4 or 5 bars of the exact same song "So What"...

Jazz is the study of 7ths, if Kenny G. and company play music that has 7ths in it, it's jazz. You may not like it but it ain't rock, it ain't blues, it ain't country, it's jazz.
Jazz is the most diverse form of all music. It covers everything from the Band Chicago and some of their work to T. Monk and even more spacey stuff. It is by far the most large body of musical work out there today with respect to style. I don't think without a jazz definition anybody can convice anyone else that Kenny G. doesn't play jazz (at least not me).

radhead · Apr 28, 2008

I see what you mean. I thought you were trying to say that he was jazz, and I was agreeing with you. But what you said is basically what I said in my original post. I've never heard the phrase "study of 7ths" but I would have classified jazz as having more blue/flat notes. That's more than just 7ths.

I don't think the distinctions are that important these days. A musician should draw from many sources. Another thing to remember is that originally jazz was a very popular musical form. So, if something called jazz today isn't popular, then perhaps the label should come into question.

jwp · Apr 29, 2008

radhead said:
I see what you mean. I thought you were trying to say that he was jazz, and I was agreeing with you. But what you said is basically what I said in my original post. I've never heard the phrase "study of 7ths" but I would have classified jazz as having more blue/flat notes. That's more than just 7ths.

I don't think the distinctions are that important these days. A musician should draw from many sources. Another thing to remember is that originally jazz was a very popular musical form. So, if something called jazz today isn't popular, then perhaps the label should come into question.

Fair enough, the blues of course was the root of Jazz the 1,4,5 progression that became the I7,IV7,V7 alone has a more airy feel. When we talk about passing tones of course as you say the classic flat 5 is otherwise referred to as the "blue" note, and played often in blues, but also in jazz. The flat 7th or dominant chordal shapes the path for many chromatic notes within a particular scale as follows: 1,2,b3,3,4,b5,5,6,b7,7,8,b9,9,11,13 all rooted of course in either a major 7, minor 7 or diminished chordal shape. Bottom line perhaps is that jazz does not have a solid definition per se and yet so many seem to know that Kenny G. is not a jazz player. I don't get it. He's obviously talented, and popular, but he seems to have drawn a lot of people that really dislike him.

radhead · Apr 29, 2008

The best description I've heard is "crossover jazz." Or, a combination of pop and jazz. It's really like instrumental pop/R&B.

whitesands · Jan 29, 2009

used to listen to Kenny all the time...

trt · Jul 12, 2009

Yeah Kenny G is cool. I haven't listened to him in a while. I might check him out again.

Christian Soldier · Jul 21, 2009

YouTube - Kenny G - The Shadow of your Smile

zepsinger · Sep 15, 2009

I saw him live. He wins my award for Most Boring Concert.

radhead · Sep 15, 2009

Some of my favorite musicians are boring live. Doesn't discount their greatness.

ulu · Jun 18, 2012

FlatpickingJD said:
Mass popularity proves nothing. If that meant anything, then Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake would be considered musical geniuses..

BUT MARIAH CAREY IS A GENIUS

keke007 · Jun 20, 2012

he beboppers did not cause the decline of jazz as an artform, it was already in decline starting in the post-war period before the beboppers came along. Fewer people were listening to jazz at that time. Ellington and Basie had both all but disbanded their orchestras because they were drawing fewer folks to their concerts. It wasn't till the great Newport Jazz Festival of 1958 that jazz had a renaissance. Some people blame jazz' decline on rock 'n roll, though I think that's a bit of a stretch. Music's popularity changes with generations.

smithwood · Jan 15, 2013

I used to love this album when this came out. I would conider this smooth jazz. Personally i love it.

Gxg (G²) · Jan 15, 2013

radhead said:
Are there any other fans of Kenny G out there? I don't know all of his music but a few things I have heard, I really like.

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes. I don't consider his music to be jazz, but I really couldn't find another category to put him.

Kenny G - Song Bird - YouTube

Oh My GOsh!!!!!!! I thought I was one of the few people here on the site who liked Kenny G. The man is a classic

apache1 · Mar 2, 2013

ArJay81 said:
I don't care for his stuff at all.

He sounds just like he what he is, an accountant trying to play an instrument. By that I mean he sounds to me like he has no imagination.

If you enjoy his work, by all means continue to listen to him. I think you would do better to listen to Dexter Gordon, Ben Webster and Charlie Parker.

I agree, but don't entirely write him off. If you have insomnia, listening to him beats the hell out of Nytol, Sleep-eze, melatonin, Unisom, Ambien, or even Herb Alpert or Chuck Mangione!

crixus · Mar 5, 2013

Kenny G is not jazz. His stuff is background music...at best. But it's definitely not jazz.

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