That's nuts! I must confess though that listening to all those songs played simultaneously is infinitely more pleasing than hearing any of his songs individually. Glad you had a great time doing it!
I probably shouldn’t get into this, but never mind. Kenny G sop sound is very far from the sound I’m looking for. Nevertheless, what does a musician want? He wants to appeal to an audience as large as possible or he wants to play his thing no matter if following is 10 people but religiously committed? Joshua Redman once said when he was playing “free jazz”: I was totally free structurally. It was also free, because nobody wanted to pay for it. Miles was viciously attacked by critics when he changed to electronic. Herbie Hancock followed suit. Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea etc., etc. There were many before Kenny G...
If Kenny G would suddenly record an album in the style of Miles “On The Corner”, how many copies would it sell? My estimation is that he would be cut off of his recording contract. I don’t have a clue what Kenny G can really play or what he would play if it was only up to him. However, he did it in the music world. Big time! An instrumentalist selling 70 million something records (I don’t know the exact number) is an achievement whichever way you look at it.
A pro musician generally plays what they are payed to play. The ones playing whatever they want an getting payed handsomely are the chosen ones. If that applies to Kenny G, I don’t know. It would be very interesting to know what he listens to late in the evening sipping a smoked single malt (and, again, I don’t even know if he drinks).
Like Branford Marsalis said: If Kenny G would disappear, it would not bring more people to his concerts or sell more of his records. If music makes someone happy, great! Most of the time I very much dislike that music. I look for music that makes me feel good and there’s a wide variety of it! From Otis Redding or Aretha Franklin to John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman, not to talk about Izhak Perlman or Daniel Barenboim. What is really funny is that I occasionally listen to Kenny G as well, but I’m not trying to imitate his sop sound. Not at all...
now you're ready to appreciate Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.
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