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About Kenny G:
I’m in the Mood for Love. . . The Most Romantic Melodies of All Time is Kenny G’s twist on the trend that’s found artists, from Rod Stewart to Gladys Knight to Barry Manilow, repurposing classics for modern consumption. Or is it? A scan of the track selection is as likely to get listeners wondering whether he’s covered these songs before as it is to drum up curiosity about how they’ll sound spiraling out of his signature sax.. For instance: silky as “The Way We Were,” the Barbra Streisand chestnut, comes across, it stirs a sense of déjà vu as much as wonderment; as does the Sinatra medley “Fly Me to the Moon/You Make Me Feel So Young.” Such familiarity is without doubt the product of impeccable taste and a seasoned ear. Hats off to the G-man for pronouncing a couple of recent hits among the most romantic of all time: Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” deserves it especially, and is mesmerizing here. —Tammy La Gorce
Kenny G has long been the musician many jazz listeners love to hate. A phenomenally successful instrumentalist whose recordings make the pop charts, Kenny G’s sound has been a staple on adult contemporary and smooth jazz radio stations since the mid-’80s, making him a household name. Kenny G is a fine player with an attractive sound (influenced a bit by Grover Washington, Jr.) who often caresses melodies, putting a lot of emotion into his solos. Because he does not improvise much (sticking mostly to predictable melody statements), his music largely falls outside of jazz. However, because he is listed at the top of “contemporary jazz” charts and is identified with jazz in the minds of the mass public, he is classified as jazz. —VH1.com
Kenny Gorelick started playing professionally with Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1976. It is not widely known that Kenny G’s soprano saxophone is one that he has been playing since the age of 16. He is afraid to get it modified or buy a new one because he is afraid it will wreck his sound. In 2003, Kenny G was named the 25th-highest selling artist in America by the RIAA, with 48 million albums sold in the USA as of July 31, 2006.[19] In 1994, Kenny G won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for “Forever in Love.” —Wikipedia.com
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