Why do people make fun of Kenny G?

[Shell Beau]

He is good at what he does! I make fun of him, but why? :shrug:

[ghostsofgiants]

1. Because what he does is incredibly lame?

[Shell Beau]

2. But playing an instrument well isn't lame, is it?

[CanuckAmok]

3. Having no soul at all, but owning a sax, is lame.

LAME!!!

[Shell Beau]

7. Well I don't know too much about him actually!

But I guess he is talented enough for what he does. But I guess his music is pretty lame, at least what I know of it!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

9. Pat Metheny has an excellent rant about him published on some jazz haunt

somewhere online. I'll see if I can dig it up.

[LifeDuringWartime]

16. booya

http://www.jazzoasis.com/methenyonkennyg.htm

"But when Kenny G decided that it was appropriate for him to defile the music of the man who is probably the greatest jazz musician that has ever lived by spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, fucked up playing all over one of the great Louis's tracks (even one of his lesser ones), he did something that I would not have imagined possible. He, in one move, through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, shit all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that Louis Armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician. By disrespecting Louis, his legacy and by default, everyone who has ever tried to do something positive with improvised music and what it can be, Kenny G has created a new low point in modern culture - something that we all should be totally embarrassed about - and afraid of. We ignore this, "let it slide", at our own peril."

[WritingIsMyReligion]

18. Love ya, Metheny!

:loveya:

:rofl:

I believe, Kenny G, that is called a smackdown. BUUURRRRN! :P

[Spider Jerusalem]

17. Here...

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/articles/arti0900_03.htm

[WritingIsMyReligion]

20. I knew AAJ would have it.

I love that website. ;)

[ghostsofgiants]

4. By "what he does" I meant the music he plays.

[Shell Beau]

5. Well I can agree with that!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

6. Because he's a soulless noisemaker from the pits of hell

who has the audacity to overdub himself on top of REAL jazzers, i.e. Louis Armstrong?

The man is a clueless numbskull. He might be able to play the saxophone, but all he can do is press the keys. The REAL part of music--emotion--goes remains stagnant in his heart. Playing an instrument technically well does not a musician make.

[Shell Beau]

8. Ok, that does make sense. I don't really know enough

about him or his music. But, apparently, people who do, feel the same as you! And that totally answers my question.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

10. It's okay.

He can play the saxophone, technically, as well as nearly anybody, and better than most do. But he's just not a musician. His notes drift aimlessly through the mind, and all his songs sound the same.

:grr:

Sorry. I just get PO'ed over him.

[Shell Beau]

12. Don't apologize!! I don't know a whole lot about the sax.

I asked the question because I really wanted to know!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

14. Most people with any credibility despise him.

Even people with questionale judgment elsewhere. His popularity is a monumental testament to the inanity of the majority of American consumers.

[Shell Beau]

19. My credibility with music, anyway, lies in other places

besides the sax. It is a perfectly beautiful instrument, but I don't know much about it or its players, unfortunately!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

22. If you're ever interested in it, I'd suggest the masters.

Charlie Parker ("Bird") and John Coltrane, definitely, although some of their recordings may be difficult for people who don't really know jazz to dig. (Bird, especially, gets into some crazy bebop shit that, while fascinating for the jazz nerd, can be insanely frustrating for others.)

Though I love Bird and 'Trane, I'm not well-versed in them, even for a so-called jazz fanatic. I'm much more into jazz trumpet and piano, as my undying love of Bill Evans proves.

[Shell Beau]

26. I definitely know Coltrane!! And I am somewhat familiar

with jazz. I don't live too far from New Orleans. I consider Kenny G more pop-ish, I guess!! :shrug: Even though jazz isn't my number one fave music. Love it, but I am from the MS delta where I grew up with the blues.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

27. Ahh, the blues.

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[Initech]

11. To use the words of Bill Hicks - he's a demon set loose on the earth to lower the standards

[ghostsofgiants]

13. Ahhh, Bill, how I miss that man.

[Spider Jerusalem]

15. Because he's not very good at what he does...

what he does is engage in the whitebread blandification of the jazz genre, a genre in which he is NOT a particularly competent player (he has no real improvisational skill, a limited musical vocabulary, and an apparent inability to play in tune or on key). He sucks to a tremendous degree, and only people who know nothing about jazz in particular and good music in general like him. As a saxophonist or as a jazz musician he's not fit to lick the feet of people like John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Eric Dolphy, Jackie McLean, Lester Young, or a dozen other people I could name.

[Shell Beau]

21. Why did he "get" famous?

Seriously, are there that many dumb people out there (musically, I mean)? I am when it comes to the sax. Don't know much about it, unfortunately!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

24. Yes, there are.

However, I think that Kenny G is a passing fad. The ruin he and the entire "smooth jazz" crowd brought to the American music scene will take generations to clean up. Most people generally recognize Kenny to be the idjit he is--or so I hope.

[Spider Jerusalem]

29. By being good at playing to the audience.

Big riffs and flashy quick runs (never mind that he's not that good at them). He's a better showman than he is a musician.

[hyde]

23. kenny g is "the britney spears of jazz music"

That's what my old History of Jazz prof told our class when Kenny G came up. I think pretty much sums it up.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

25. Perfect summation.

:thumbsup:

[Spider Jerusalem]

28. Here: jazz saxophonists who DON'T suck

Lester Young: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1IyuG_2jXsE

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bhql0clzqEM

John Coltrane: http://youtube.com/watch?v=2pXWKwUYGKg

Charlie Parker: http://youtube.com/watch?v=wkvCDCOGzGc

Coleman Hawkins (with Charlie Parker): http://youtube.com/watch?v=3IhPggMnSiw

Sonny Rollins: http://youtube.com/watch?v=U8NQPDsjLoc

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jqXYAcVPDD4