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Kenny G at Regattabar in Cambridge MA 9/22

9K views 65 replies 33 participants last post by  jlima 
#1 ·
You have been warned! The end of the world is near!

You too can experience this ??? for only $65 a ticket/set.

Should we organize a protest? or run away and plug our ears?
 
#4 ·
I doubt it's a matter of being "down to" small venues. I'm sure he still sells out venues worldwide. Smooth jazz is as strong as it ever was. Probably a special appearance to help a friend.
 
#5 ·
wow, people pay that much to be entertained for one set now? Even if you like the snake charmer that's probably going to add up to quite a bit with drinks. I wonder what his take is when all is said and done. Hopefully it is a charity thing for him.
 
#12 ·
A few years back the Regatta Bar wouldn't give Phil Woods money for a room to stay over the night before the gig which he has to do now for health/heart condition reasons apparently. Can't travel on the days he plays. So he didn't do the gig. Think the snake charmer will get a room? I'm trying to start trouble obviously, it's so much fun.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the tip. I was able to buy my tickets early, and therefore got a front row seat at the second show. The Regatta Bar is an approx. 200 seat room in the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square. It is similar to Scullers, across the river in the Doubletree Hotel.

Kenny has a two man show. He told a few amusing stories, and didn't get in to making any cheeky political comments, as I have seen at similar venues. He plays sax along with a keyboard player and some recorded background music. He played Sop with the exception of Desafinado, which he played on Tenor. Very entertaining, he wandered around the room playing with his wireless mike. He even sat in the seat next to my wife for a while while playing. He also played one number using his Kenny G brand Sop. After the show Kenny was out front to meet his fans and sign CD's.

I did not like the sound set up, and the "band in a box". His sound was muffled by the electronics and echo effect, so it didn't really come off as live music. We did have a great time, however, and also enjoyed his demonstration of circular breathing. It's great that KG gets people interested in Saxophone and Jazz.

I think people like Kenny G play small rooms at times, just as famous actors sometimes do summer stock.
 
#17 ·
Watch closely how Miles is looking at him, like he's thinking: "Get this guy outta here before I kill him!!!"
 
#19 ·
And if you are wrong, that means smooth jazz fans have been buying junk all along? What do record sales have to do with quality anyhow? Pop music disproved any connection years ago.
 
#32 ·
Ah you kids have been busy while i have been away...

Look, Kenny G seems to be a fine entertainer. Given Barysaxguy's response there seems to be a market for such entertainment. However how this entertainment (playing to a backing track, smoozing with the audience etc.) relates to jazz is another question entirely.

In all of the times I have seen players like Steve Lacy, Joe Lovano, Mark Turner, Jerry Bergonzi or George Garzone I can't recall ever having one of them come off the band stand and sit next to my girlfriend while playing -- quite sure I don't want to either.

For some of us what they play, how the band interacts and creates together is infinitely more important than the entertainment value.

But don't just take my word for it... Link
 
#35 ·
I don't see what's wrong with a little entertainment, and I don't see how it could interfere with one's artistic integrity as long as you play what you want to play.
(Disclaimer: I don't like Mr Gorelick's music, or any other form of smooth jazz for that matter. But I have great respect for him as a business man in music)
 
#39 ·
Yes, Kenny G might as well just show up, not play at all and smile at your girlfriend (or boyfriend, who cares) while one of CDs was playing in the back. How much would that be worth? And would it still be art?
 
#40 ·
Kenny played the Blue Note last week. Heard that when he was warming up everybody in the building came to listen because he sounded like Coltrane. Straight up. Then BAM...they turn on the reverb and he's Kenny G. Kenny's no lightweight...and like others, I don't doubt that he could slay 99.99% of the people on this forum (including most of the "pros") playing changes.
 
#42 ·
So why doesn't he play like Coltrane to changes when the mike is on? or on the many many many CDs he has recorded. Perhaps it is that pesky artistic integrity problem...
 
#43 ·
that Kenny Gee-had is pretty funny.

so why are some so hostile about kenny g? i know an 11 year old that likes kenny g because his middle school sax teacher says she doesnt - and we all know you shouldnt agree with the teacher. is your reason any better to hate him?

I cant liten to much of him without falling asleep.
 
#44 ·
I played with a guitar guy that opened for him 3 times in the 80's. Says Kenny and the sax player from my guitar friend's band would hang around after the gig and "spend hours" playing Coltrane licks, running through changes, famous transcriptions, etc. They all said that from a bebop standpoint, he's REALLY good. I understand that as saxophonists, it has always been the fad, the "in" thing to bash Kenny G. It's cool to say he sucks, to say his stuff is awful, or whatever. I thought that ended in middle school, but apparently not. I must say, one of the things that impresses me most with his playing is that even when playing something incredibly simple, he's able to sound FANTASTIC while doing it. He can make any melody sound incredibly pleasing. And one thing is for sure...I think we all know plenty and plenty of nothing-but-bop players who can run through Cherokee at 300bpm, but they can't play something simple and make it sound great. In a time in which so many of us are wondering what altered scale we can superimpose over a given chord, Kenny G could play any kind of Mickey Mouse BS melody and really make it matter, and there's something to be said from that. There's a LOT to be said from that.
 
#45 ·
I've heard Kenny play straight ahead. He's got some chops. But he still plays it in a smooth jazz way with the vibrato and inflections. He sounds like a smooth jazz guy playing straight ahead, which he is. Meanwhile somebody like Kirk Whalum can turn that stuff on and off. When Kirk plays smooth jazz or gospel, he sounds like a gospel saxophonist. But when he plays straight jazz, he sounds like a pure jazzer and if you never heard him play smooth jazz before, you'd never know that he did.
 
#47 ·
Meanwhile somebody like Kirk Whalum can turn that stuff on and off. When Kirk plays smooth jazz or gospel, he sounds like a gospel saxophonist. But when he plays straight jazz, he sounds like a pure jazzer and if you never heard him play smooth jazz before, you'd never know that he did.
Anyone else ever hear Kirk Whalum on "Basie and Beyond" led by Quincy Jones and Sammy Nestico? Oh,yeah!
 
#50 ·
Stevie Wonder came to town some time ago for a corporate thing, and for sound check (well before anyone was in the building except the band and sound crew -of which one on them related this story to me) Stevie busted into Giant Steps and followed by the band. Not a cute "hey look at us, we're playing Giant Steps hee-hee" and then amaturishly hacking over it, but a sincere smoke-a-thon over it ... then Sir Duke or something to check vocal mix and that was it. Of course they went nowhere near Giant Steps in the show. Just because musicians are financially successful pop artists doesn't mean they suck.
 
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