1. Sax-O-Loco
2. Ritmo y Romance
3. Sabor a Mi
4. Tango
5. Mirame Bailar
6. Peruvian Nights
7. Brasilia
8. Besame Mucho
9. Fiesta Loca
10. Es Hora de Decir
11. Copa de Amor
12. Salsa Kenny
Kenny G - Soprano sax, tenor sax
Walter Afanasieff - Piano, keyboard and rhythm
programming
Ramon Stagnero, Pablo Hurtado - Guitars
John Pena, Nathan East - Bass
Alex Acuña - Drums
Enrique Martinez - Accordion
Michito Sanchez, Rafael Padilla, Ron Powell,
Paulinho Da Costa - Percussion
Gary Grant, Dan Fornero - Trumpets
Bill Reichenbach, Andy Martin - Trombones
Dan Higgins - Saxes
Mario Domm & Saro - Vocals
Kenny
G seems to have been singled out by many jazz
reviewers and musicians as a target for odium.
This may be because Kenny plays sweetly and
smoothly, and we all know how any kind of
smooth jazz is anathema to the average jazz
critic. He has been dismissed as "pseudo-jazz",
"Muzak" and "insipid". It may be that Kenny
is not really a good musician (among some
scathing comments, Pat Metheny has said "Kenny
G plays the dumbest music on the planet").
It may be due to the fact that Kenny first
became famous in the genre of jazz=rock, which
is much maligned by many reviewers. Or perhaps
some musicians are jealous of Kenny's success:
selling millions of record albums (38 million
at the last count), and he has been used by
many artists to supply saxophone solos on
their recordings. Perhaps it's because his
moniker - Kenny G - sounds too "pop" for some
people (but you might understand his wanting
to conceal his surname, which is Gorelick).
Whatever the reason, Kenny G has been heavily
criticised - or simply ignored - in many jazz
circles.
So
perhaps I am being reckless in admitting that
I like his work (although I don't like his
strange hairstyle). I actually enjoy hearing
sweet sounds from the saxophone, whether it
be the soaring lyricism of Johnny Hodges or
the warmth of Coleman Hawkins and Stan Getz.
Kenny plays the soprano sax on all but one
track of this album (Fiesta Loca has
him on tenor sax) and he makes the soprano
sound mellifluous - which is not an easy job,
as the soprano saxophone is one of the most
intractable of Adolphe Sax's inventions. Dudley
Moore chose Kenny to play on two of his most
beautiful recordings - Brogan and Faithfully
Yours on Dudley's album Songs Without
Words (an album I advise you to buy if
you see it anywhere - one of the multi-talented
Dud's finest works). What was good enough
for Dudley is generally good enough for me.
Kenny
G's new CD has a Latin-American flavour, with
most of the tunes co-written by Kenny G and
pianist Walter Afanasieff. But there is a
familiar melody in Besame Mucho, which
is caressed tenderly by the whole band. Here
and elsewhere, Kenny plays jazz solos which
may be simple but they are interesting and
well-constructed. I don't feel like castigating
him for his success or his sound or his style.
He's not as talented as (say) Dave Sanborn,
nor is he particularly inventive or ground-breaking.
But he makes some very pleasant music and,
you know, that's sometimes enough.
Tony
Augarde
CD Reviews
Concord/Starbucks
Entertainment 0888072306707
