Kenny G pussifies Latin "Rhythm" any goddamn thing he touches

/fixed it for ya

Why should I attempt to sing the praises to Kenny G when Richard Thompson does it so well? (pops)

/Found a reason to avoid Starbucks stores in February.

Q: How did you come to sign with Starbucks and Concord?

Kenny G: "I was actually one of the original Starbucks investors, and (chairman) Howard Schultz is a good friend.

Translation:

"one of the original Starbucks investors" : I was an early customer but I want you to think I'm a brilliant investor

"Howard Schultz is a good friend" : it was either Starbucks or Branson.

Simplex_X-L:

Ha! Nice.

Thompson's cover of "Oops! I Did It Again" is surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly, since it is Thompson, after all) good.

RT is a god among men.

Wow, "latin feel." That's a really specific term.

What latin feel? Salsa? calypso? reggae? bossas and sambas? Tango? Merengue?
Latin music is very diverse. It's not like South America is just one big homogenous country. It's one big
heterogeneous country, like Africa. Duh.

/Really, he is terrible though.
//What's "slashies" mean?

And such is the power of fark. I read the headline and went looking on youtube for RT agreeing with Metheney. Couldn't find it so I came in here to mention it. Alas, beaten by hours.

/disappointed RT didn't play Princeton this year
//still wondering why

Pat Metheny on Kenny G (new window)

My favorite part:
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, farked 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, shiat 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.

/fully prepared for the "lighten up, Francis" rebuttals but if you have even the slightest appreciation of jazz beyond "Sunday brunch" style Metheny's comments are spot on.

Dimebag: Kenny G pussifies Latin "Rhythm" any goddamn thing he touches

THIS.

PinocchioDeBergerac: That is so spot-on, even outside the context of the larger rant.

In the late 1980s through the 1990s I had the misfortune of sharing workspace with a colleague who listened to the local Fuzak station, KIFM. (BTW, So-called "smooth jazz" = fusion + Muzak = fuzak.) Listening to pop music with jazzy overtones marketed as "jazz" on that POS station was bad enough, but anytime Kenny G bleated out of the speakers I'd either cringe or fight the urge to throw up. Turning the stereo off or wearing earplugs were not options. I would have taken a sledgehammer to the stereo if I did not have to worry about getting fired. It's conditions like these that made me strongly wish there was a truth-in-labeling law for radio.

Dimebag: Kenny G pussifies Latin "Rhythm" any goddamn thing he touches

/fixed it for ya

stole my reply

All negative comments so far (esp. Pat Metheny's) are spot on. I'd just like to add this:

Dear Carlos Santana,

No. Do not even think about it. You're better than this. This is even lower than Chad Kroeger or Michele Branch. Do not even consider lending your talent and guidance to this no-talent ass clown.

Thanks,

Martstar

Dimebag: Kenny G pussifies Latin "Rhythm" any goddamn thing he touches

/fixed it for ya

THIS


/sometimes cliches are appropriate

Simplex_X-L: Why should I attempt to sing the praises to Kenny G when Richard Thompson does it so well? (pops)

/Found a reason to avoid Starbucks stores in February.

I have so much respect for Richard. For a writer with so much dour material (great, but dour) he has a sense of humor like no other.


I had front row center for a Richard Thompson solo acoustic gig in a little hall in Indiana. Best show I've ever seen and I'll remember it forever.

He covered "I Still Believe" by Britney Spears and I was laughing my ass off - judging by the dirty looks I got, apparently Richard and I were the only two that got the joke. About mid-song as I'm wiping the tears off of my face, he looked down at me and gave me a nod and a smirk.

If you're your a fan of outstanding songwriting and equally outstanding guitar playing, I strongly recommend seeing Richard at least once. You'll never see a better guitarist and it's always a great show.

My favorite part of that essay:

Not long ago, Kenny G put out a recording where he overdubbed himself on top of a 30+ year old Louis Armstrong record, the track "What a Wonderful World". With this single move, Kenny G became one of the few people on earth I can say that I really can't use at all - as a man, for his incredible arrogance to even consider such a thing, and as a musician, for presuming to share the stage with the single most important figure in our music.

This type of musical necrophilia - the technique of overdubbing on the preexisting tracks of already dead performers - was weird when Natalie Cole did it with her dad on "Unforgettable" a few years ago, but it was her dad. When Tony Bennett did it with Billie Holiday it was bizarre, but we are talking about two of the greatest singers of the 20th century who were on roughly the same level of artistic accomplishment. When Larry Coryell presumed to overdub himself on top of a Wes Montgomery track, I lost a lot of the respect that I ever had for him - and I have to seriously question the fact that I did have respect for someone who could turn out to have such unbelievably bad taste and be that disrespectful to one of my personal heroes.

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, farked 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, shiat 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.

His callous disregard for the larger issues of what this crass gesture implies is exacerbated by the fact that the only reason he possibly have for doing something this inherently wrong (on both human and musical terms) was for the record sales and the money it would bring.

Since that record came out - in protest, as insignificant as it may be, I encourage everyone to boycott Kenny G recordings, concerts and anything he is associated with. If asked about Kenny G, I will diss him and his music with the same passion that is in evidence in this little essay.

Kenny G can eat a plate of my contemptuous sh*t in hell!

I got so many dumb relatives who love his abominable no talent whore ass.(especially my clueless in-laws)

They know I love jazz.(real jazz like Davis,Coltrane...etc)

They always ask me about him at various functions and holidays.

"hey Craig,you are the guy into music--how do you like the new Kenny G?"

You can't explain to them why he sucks.

I am sick now.

theurge14: When Larry Coryell presumed to overdub himself on top of a Wes Montgomery track, I lost a lot of the respect that I ever had for him - and I have to seriously question the fact that I did have respect for someone who could turn out to have such unbelievably bad taste and be that disrespectful to one of my personal heroes.

wow, i had no idea about this. the worlds shiattiest jazz guitarist had the balls to do THAT? lol.

I've always gotten a kick out of Kenny G's version of "The Little Drummer Boy." Why? No drums.