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Confession: I’m an incredibly hard core jazz snob. And I’m the kind of snob that used to poke fun at Kenny G. But as I grew older, I chilled the f— out. I realized that Kenny G is an excellent musician and he’s amazingly good at what he does. People like mellow, sweet music. And by gosh, Kenny G is the Mozart of mellow, sweet music.
I completely understand why a young kids might rip into Kenny G. You spend years learning all kinds of insanely hard jazz tunes, but then this dude makes buckets of ducats playing pretty simple stuff. The hatred from more senior jazz musicians and writers puzzles me. Like the epic nuclear rant by guitar legend Pat Metheny. Fancy French chefs don’t rip into Five Guys. They just do different things. and they do them pretty well.
But still, there is an interesting question – what’s the deal with Kenny G and all the haters? The new HBO documentary, Listening to Kenny G, actually gives us a great answers. To summarize, this documentary, made by Penny Lane, presents his biography and a lot of insight into how his career was built. And it goes something like this:
Stage 1: Kenny G is a really, really, really excellent music student in Seattle. Everybody knows the dude can play. But pay attention, he’s not a “jazz guy” obsessed with Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon. He’s obsessed with Grover Washington, Jr. This is important because Grover Washington was one of the inventors of the modern “smooth adult” instrumental approach to saxophone.
Step 2: Kenny G goes to college. He majors in accounting as a back up plan, if music doesn’t work out. In addition to doing classwork, he obsessively practices and gigs around town. Once again, everybody knows the dude can play. It’s obvious.
Step 3: Pay attention, this is crucial. After a stint with the Jeff Lorber band, which plays fusion – not straight up jazz, the legendary producer Clive Davis realizes that Kenny G can be a solo act super star. But here’s the problem. Jazz is a small market and, as a White dude, he’s not working so well in the Black R&B/soul market. The solution is eventually found: a new music category is cooked up – smooth jazz, which is meant to appeal to adult listeners across age and ethnic groups. And it works – spectacularly!!!!
My view, then, is that the tension around Kenny G are basically about a category error, to use a sociological term. Basically, Kenny G is a virtuoso saxophone player who is deeply rooted in the soul-R&B tradition. BUT radio stations and record labels use the word “jazz” in the marketing. This annoys jazz snobs because he’s not playing jazz and his musical practice is not like jazz for the most part. As one music critic notes, he’s more like a pop singer, but on saxophone.
Furthermore, the musical palette of Kenny G is fairly restricted, even by his own admission. His compositions and soloing convey happiness, cheer, and calmness. Of course, he can play likes he’s in the Mahavishnu Orchestra, but that’s just not his deal. Really, he’s a disciple of the Grover Washington, Jr. school of soul music. And he’s amazing at it.
It’s hard to hate Kenny G when you watch the film. He’s a serious musician – he practices hours and hours each day. He cares about his tone, about the contours of his melodies and his stage presence. He loves the audience and his music makes their lives better. I think another problem is that he’s so good at what he does that he’s “played to death,” as one executive notes in the film. I think you could come to hate any piece of music if you heard it in every mall, every elevator, and every time you where put on hold.
Will I run out and buy a ticket to the next Kenny G concert? Probably not. While I’ve appreciated Kenny G for years, I don’t think I could do 90 minutes of a Kenny G performance. I would admire his musicianship and stage presence. He also seems like a genuinely nice guy and I know he’d let me take a picture with him. But the music I prefer simply has more variety in it and moves into different emotional areas. So live and let live, I say. Kenny G, you are a gift to music and popular culture. I wish thee well, as I play my Albert Ayler ever so loudly!
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