Now, I know that some are quick to dismiss Kenny G as a popular player of smooth jazz/pop versions of christmas melodies, but he is very very talented. I went to his concert yesterday (i got his autograph and i got to shake his hand) and although he plays the classic songs that everyone knows and loves, he would often breakdown into a real solo. He would play solos comparable only to the stylings of John Coltrane. His fingers were moving so quick and, unlike JC, everyting about the solo made perfect sense. It sounded good. It sounded very difficult. In the encore, he came out on stage alone and played such a complex number that it made my head spin. I'm just amazed that some dismiss him as "weak" becase he plays for the entertainment of white people (his people) but he drops knowledge unbeknownst to them.
my question: Is Kenny G the best Saxophonist today?
2008-12-07T18:24:50Z
some of you people are stupid. its called Smooth Jazz. that is the kind of music he plays. i'm not retarted. i love Sonny Rollins, but i'll listen to his songs and i won't really even be impressed. how would you say "Kenny G is the reason people don't like jazz"? he's the one drawing people in. i don't even think Sonny would be as harsh on KG as some of you Jazz-heads.
this is a dead section anyways.
busthead2132008-12-08T07:00:34Z
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Let me tell you a true story, this took place years ago in Philadelphia PA. Kenny G. was on the same show with the legendary Miles Davis.That night I had a ticket for the early show and a ticket for the late show. No disrespect to Kenny G. but he should not have been on the same stage that Miles appear on. Kenny G. perform first on both show I left the Academy and went across the street and sat in a bar until his show was over and then I went back to see Miles Davis Band. This is a true story I did watch the second show opening act Kenny G. but I was so hype that i really could not watch Kenny G. at the first show and really didn't pay attention to his performist of the second show. This is the picture they painted of Kenny G. but really cats like Miles would blow circle around him. Bottom line is man you can't put Kenny G. on the same level as cats like Coltrane, Rollins, Miles, Baker, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, and many more like these people. He is not even close to being the best sax player out there today hands down don't even come close. What does that got to do with white or black music is no color. You don't understand jazz or appreciated music that u don't understand so stick with Kenny G. Let not play the race card please.
RE: Is Kenny G the best Saxophonist today? Now, I know that some are quick to dismiss Kenny G as a popular player of smooth jazz/pop versions of christmas melodies, but he is very very talented. I went to his concert yesterday (i got his autograph and i got to shake his hand) and although he plays the classic songs that everyone knows and...
Sonny Rollins is probably the best living saxophonist. Charlie Parker (or possibly John Coltrane) would be the best ever. I doubt you'd find any serious fan that would include Kenny G in the top 100 of all time, really.
Dude, Kenny G is so far from the best saxophonist today. I had to really think if I was even going to reply to this because most everything you said in this post is some of the stupidest **** I've ever even read. "His fingers were moving so quick and, unlike JC, everyting about the solo made perfect sense." I can't believe I'm even reading this. A) How fast you play does not equate to how good you are. It's a skill that great players have, but it's just one skill in a saxophonist's bag of tricks. B) Everything about the solo made sense, unlike Coltrane?... Let's just sit on that for a second. Firstly, Kenny G's pentatonic playing "sounds nice" to the uneducated ear, but is the simplest music to play. Anyone can play that. That's like jam band ignorant **** shredding. John Coltrane's solos that to your 65 IQ sound like they "don't make sense" are notes of extended chords, chromatic pitches, ghosts, et cetera. It's more cerebral and it's much higher quality music. John Coltrane even started ******* with free jazz way back in the 60s, which I'm sure you can't stand (refer back to the 65 IQ). Also, Kenny G opened for Miles Davis in the 80s, he didn't play with him, which would've given him some credit. Kenny G is probably the most overrated "jazz" instrumentalist of all time.
Also, I attached this picture in case you were confused about how Miles, one of the greatest jazz cats of all time, felt about Kenny mother ******* G.