 The musical style of Kenny G (born Kenny Gorelick) has been
called, smooth, soulful, melodic and romantic. His trademark jazz/rhythm and
blues/pop and funk places him in a rare stratosphere of artists.
Kenny G had his just "moment" one night when he was 10 years old, watching a
saxophone player on the Ed Sullivan Show. There have been many moments since:
including being named Billboard Magazine's "Jazz Artist of The Decade" ('80s),
being named top instrumentalist in Playboy, Downbeat, and Rolling Stone
Magazine's Readers Polls, performing at the 1993 Presidential Inauguration,
performing at the 1996 Democratic National Convention, winning a Grammy Award in
1993 for "Forever In Love," winning the American Music Award for Favorite Adult
Contemporary Artist in 1994 and being named on the R.I.A.A. (Recording Industry
Association of America) list of the 25 Top Selling Artists of All Time – not to
mention the fact that his eight albums have sold more than 36 million copies
worldwide to date.
Kenny G says, "My inspiration comes from many different places and at very
unexpected times. That's the beauty of creativity. I feel that really
experiencing the moments of our lives is the only way to really live."
After his mother rented his first saxophone, Kenny played in the school bands.
His musical education, however, consisted mainly of him staying home and
practicing along with records (mostly of Grover Washington Jr.) trying to
emulate the sounds that he was hearing. Kenny's high school band director got
him his first professional job as sax soloist for a Barry White show in his
hometown of Seattle. Kenny was just 17 years old.
At the University of Washington, Kenny's college band director (Roy Cummings)
encouraged him to listen to some of the all-time great sax players such as
Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins and this increased Kenny's
musical vocabulary. During these college days (1974 - 1978) Kenny played with a
local soul group called Cold, Bold & Together.
22 year old Kenny Gorelick joined Jeff Lorber's band and toured the USA for the
first time. It was during this stint that Arista Records President, Clive Davis
saw Kenny play and later approached Jeff Lorber with the idea of a Kenny
Gorelick solo album. His debut album, "Kenny G" was recorded in 1982.
The next two albums, "G-Force" and "Gravity" were collaborations with producer
Kashif and the late Wayne Braithwaite. "I learned a lot about producing and
writing during this period and also what kind of music was really me."
But it wasn't until 1986 with his fourth album, "Duotones," Kenny felt that his
true voice finally came out. Kenny played all of the instruments on the first
single, "Songbird" and produced the sound that has been his signature ever since
"Songbird" went to # 4 on the Billboard Pop Chart. Next, the self-produced,
multi-platinum, "Silhouette," Kenny's fifth album, produced the mega-smash
"Silhouette."
Kenny wrapped up the '80s with his sixth and only double album to date, "Kenny G
Live," which Kenny says "captured the live experience that I felt was more of a
true representation of my sound." Kenny's first full length home video was also
derived from this project. "Kenny G Live" has sold more than three million units
nationally and the video is double platinum.
"Breathless," the seventh album for Kenny, made history and broke chart and
sales records. The album set a record by staying # 1 on the Contemporary Jazz
Chart for more than 100 weeks and made history by becoming the # 1 Instrumental
Album of all time and propelling Kenny G into the superstar universe and the #1
Instrumentalist of all time. The single, "Forever In Love" from the album earned
him a Grammy Award and the album stayed on the Billboard Pop Album Chart for 4
years after its release.
What is now a holiday classic, Kenny G's eighth album, "Miracles: The Holiday
Album" (released in '94), shattered a long standing record to become the biggest
selling holiday album in history and the only holiday album to reach # 1 on the
Billboard Album Chart in three decades. "I was reluctant to record a Christmas
record as I thought that making a Christmas album was in some way making a
religious statement. But after first experimenting with the recording of 'White
Christmas,' all I heard was a beautiful song with a beautiful melody and I was
hooked."
Kenny G has pioneered his career with his distinctive "sax sound" which
blossomed into # 1 albums, # 1 singles, Grammy, Billboard and American Music
Awards, sold-out tours and eventually re-writing chart history. His
accomplishments are impressive by any artist standards, many are unprecedented
by any other instrumentalist.
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