Kenny G - Evolving Jazz Artist

Little to toot horn about

By Charles Passy,
Palm Beach Post Music Writer
Sunday, December 8, 2002

BOCA RATON -- For a moment, let's give Kenny G the benefit of the doubt. Let's assume the curly-haired, smooth-jazz saxophonist never intended to be the gazillion-seller he is. Let's see him as a guy who liked to toot sweet melodies on his horn -- and just happened to get lucky.

It's an appealing notion. But then reality intrudes.

In this case, reality took the form of a two-hour display of sentimental self-indulgence at the newly opened Mizner Park amphitheater Friday night, attended by a near-capacity crowd. I suppose the concert served the purpose of pleasing Mr. G's thriving fan base. But it didn't exactly serve the art of music -- and especially the art of jazz.

The saxophonist started the evening playing a wayward melody while standing in the middle of the crowd. Then he played a wayward melody while standing on a platform. Then he played a wayward melody while standing on stage.

Are you beginning to sense a pattern?

The point, of course, is that's all Kenny G plays. His idea of melodic invention is to take an admittedly ear-catching tune, then add lots of notes to it, then restate it in its original form. There's no harmonic shifting, no tinkering with rhythms. There's no, well, jazz. What Kenny G does is reduce improvisation into pop-song pablum.

That might be bad enough. But the saxophonist adds an unchecked egotism to that. A case in point: At every concert, he does the same trick, holding a note for minutes at a time using a technique called circular breathing. It's a stunt that probably half the wind section in the Florida Philharmonic could pull off, but Kenny G makes it like he invented it. And his demonstration has no intrinsic artistic value: I've heard sweeter music coming from car alarms.

Even worse, the saxophonist offers little chance for his talented band to jam. Oh, they're given their own stunts to pull off: A gifted percussionist, for example, does a footloose routine with a tambourine that brings to mind the antics of the Broadway show Stomp. But I'd much rather see that percussionist really get inside the music and find ways to expand on it. Then again, that would require Kenny G to write music with some actual meat on its bones.

The show also included a couple of selections by Chante Moore, an R&B singer who brought a much-needed soulfulness to the evening. The saxophonist introduced her by noting she compensated for his lack of vocal abilities, "You don't want to hear me sing," he said.

As it was, we didn't even want to hear him play.

By Charles Passy,
Palm Beach Post Music Writer
Sunday, December 8, 2002