Kenneth Gorelick (born June 5 1956), better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American saxophonist whose fourth album Duotones brought him to fame in 1986. Kenny's main instrument is the soprano saxophone, but he also plays the alto and tenor sax on occasion.
Kenny G | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1982–present |
Early life
Kenny was born in Seattle, Washington. His mother rented him his first saxophone, and he learned how to play staying home and practicing along with records (mostly of Grover Washington Jr.) trying to emulate the sounds that he was hearing. At Franklin High School (where he also lettered in golf) he played in the school band. Kenny's high school band director eventually got him his first professional job as sax soloist for a Barry White show Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1976, when he adopted the moniker "Kenny G."
Solo career
In 1981 Kenny G signed with Arista Records as a solo artist. He has released many solo albums and collaborated with various artists including Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole and Aretha Franklin. Influenced by the likes of Grover Washington, Jr., his own albums are usually classified as smooth jazz, though there are many in the music community who categorize his albums more as adult contemporary.
His entry into the smooth jazz market remains popular with the American buying public, although he has come under much fire from music critics and jazz devotées. As of 2003, Kenny G was named the 25th-highest selling artist in America by the RIAA, with 47.5 million albums sold in the USA [1]. In 1994, Kenny G won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for Forever in Love.
In 1997, Kenny G earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing the longest note ever recorded on a saxophone. Kenny G held an E Flat for forty five minutes, forty seven seconds, a record he still officially holds. However, in 1998, a sax player by the name of Geovanny Escalante from Costa Rica claimed that he held an E Flat for ninety minutes, forty five seconds. This attempt is considered unofficial, as the Guinness Book of World Records judges were not present at the event, which is required for an official entry in the book. [2] [3]
Criticism
Though he claims not to be a jazz musician, Kenny G has been criticized by some jazz players for his pedestrian, soulless playing. For example, Pat Metheny was harshly critical when G overdubbed his saxophone onto a Louis Armstrong recording for his jazz standards album Classics In The Key Of G. [4]. Metheny wrote that Kenny G, "through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, shit all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that Louis Armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician." Richard Thompson also weighed in on the controversy with a song called "I Agree with Pat Metheny", in which he sang "a meeting of great minds, how nice / like Einstein and Sporty Spice."
Trivia
- Kenny G is a very keen golfer and plays golf every day. He has a handicap of 1. [citation needed]
See also
External links
- Kenny G on VH1.com
- includes full discography
- Kenny G biography from Rolling Stone
- Kenny G at the Internet Movie Database
- http://kennyg.com [Kenny G Official Website]