The Unbearable Lightness of G-ing
Kenny G fascinates me. The curiously tressed smooth-jazz king has sold 75 million albums, and yet my mother is the only person who admits to liking him. In advance of Thursday's gig at the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, I chatted with the G Man about being one of pop culture's great polarizing personalities.
Here's an excerpt from my Thursday profile:
Chomp on this, jazz snobs: Miles Davis was a Kenny G fan.
You read that right. One of the most revered trumpeters in jazz history adored one of the most reviled saxophonists. In the ’80s, Mr. G even opened shows for the famously moody “Prince of Darkness.”
“On many occasions, Miles would come into my dressing room and tell me what I was doing was great,” says the 50-year-old Kenneth Gorelick, who tonight headlines the Clearwater Jazz Holiday. “If Miles says I’m doing good, and some critics say I stink, why would I listen to them?”
Kenny is defending his art as he cruises through Los Angeles. (“When you drive in L.A., you have plenty of time to talk,” he laughs.) For a guy who has sold 75-million albums, he’s incredibly easy to reach. Mere seconds after I sent a message to his Blackberry, he called: “Hey, man, let’s chat!”
You gotta love the G Man.
Or not.
It has become fashionable of to rip and ridicule the Clearwater Jazz Holiday for not doing enough to showcase "serious" jazz. But when organizers announced that this year’s main attraction was Kenny G, whose lazy-river soprano sax style is the very definition of “smooth,” jazzbos set a new record for vitriol.
Kenny G, the haters cried, is not jazz. He’s Mantovani with a perm!
G knows the drill. Great achievement, more jokes.
(To find the rest of this story on Thursday, go here.)
Sean Daly is the pop music critic for the St. Petersburg Times. His CD collection -- from Journey to Dylan, Prince to U2, Public Enemy to Stan Getz -- is much bigger and better than yours.
I am so jealous. Saw him at Ruth Eckerd a few years ago and loved every minute. Any TRUE Jazz fan knows he's great. Hip Hop, as some have claimed, is not Jazz. Jazz is Jobim, Getz, Gilberto, Bonny James, Spyro Gyra, and of course Kenny G
Posted by: Gypsy | October 18, 2006 at 03:44 PM
Okay, so you can't stand Spandau Ballet, but love Kenny G???
Posted by: Greg Williams | October 19, 2006 at 09:24 PM
Greg, Greg, Greg: I never said I loved Kenny G. I was profiling a curious pop-culture phenomenon with fairness in mind. Unlike Spears, my prose is more than just surface pap about his alcoholic weekends watching "The Breakfast Club" for the 40th time.
Posted by: Sean Daly | October 20, 2006 at 11:01 AM