It might surprise you to hear that Kenny Gorelick, more popularly known as Kenny G, has been appearing professionally for thirty years. From his first appearance as part of Barry White's Love Unlimited band in 1976, he moved on to forming his own group and eventually to finding a formula that made him into a superstar with global sales of 75 million albums — while at the same time causing jazz purists to grind their teeth. Many feel that "smooth jazz" is a marginal genre to begin with, and that his personal style, with minimal improvisation and a tendency to stay on melody, is not really jazz.
That's probably a little harsh, but Kenny's fans really don't care how you label his music — they're just happy that there's a new album due to be released later this month. The content of the album is in the title, I'm in the Mood for Love - The Most Romantic Melodies of all Time. Kenny once again illustrates the straight-ahead playing style that makes the traditionalists shudder, but it's probably ideal for this mix of romantic ballads. Most people are looking for familiarity when listening to standard love songs, because after all that's part of the definition of a standard.
Kenny is joined by his usual collaborator, keyboardist Walter Afanasieff, who also acts as arranger and producer. They're backed up by a solid ensemble, but there's little doubt who's the star here and Kenny is at the center of every song. The album contains 13 cuts (listed below) and most will be familiar to you as they've been around a while, but there are a few newer tunes. For example, included are instrumental versions of Alicia Keys' hit "If I Ain't Got You", and Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up", but it's mostly about the old songs. Included are standards such as "As Time Goes By" and "I'm In The Mood For Love", and one I especially enjoyed, "The Way We Were."
Article comments
1 - Pico
I agree with Pat Metheny and Richard Thompson ;&)
-P
2 - Big Geez
Yeah, the Louie Armstrong thing has kind of followed him around for years...
3 - Mark Saleski
then of course there's that "stepped on a duck" tone he gets out of his sax. icky.
4 - Big Geez
LOL. Always reminded me of the opening theme of "My Three Sons". Remember that?
5 - Mark Saleski
yes, i can visualize those "tapping feet" right away!
6 - zingzing
it sounds like you got paid for this review. like, payola pay. you didn't want to bash the album, but i think you secretly hated it, but just couldn't say so.
7 - DJRadiohead
The My Three Sons blast is my favorite thing today, I think. That is brill.
8 - Anna Creech
zingzing: I didn't get that impression from the review at all. Perhaps the Big Geeze really did enjoy the album.
Personally, I can't stand Kenny G or smooth jazz in general, so I know this one isn't for me regardless of what BG has to say about it.
9 - Big Geez
Zingzing, the only payola involved was that I got a generic-looking "album burn" review copy of the CD from the marketing person. If you consider that getting paid for the review, then I guess I earned about 14 cents for it.
And honestly, both you and Anna are right about my review. I saw the review as being of use to Kenny's many fans, but I was personally somewhere south of lukewarm about it. I did say that I enjoyed it, but mainly because I always like the old songs.
10 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites.