Kenny G

KENNY G BELIEVES IN MIRACLES

BY: DINAH ENG, GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

September 24, 1999

Jazz saxophonist Kenny G believes in the miracle of music.

As a child, he watched a sax player on The Ed Sullivan Show and decided he wanted to be a musician, too.

Fortunately, the public school he attended in Seattle had a great music program, and he learned the fundamentals that launched a legendary career.

He has sold more than 30 million records around the world, and received accolades ranging from the Grammy to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Now, he's established The Kenny G Miracles Foundation to help keep music alive in public schools whose programs have been hit by cutbacks in funding for the arts.

"Our society concentrates an over-emphasis on money and jobs, and not enough on beauty and art," said Kenny G, who announced the foundation with the release of his new album, Classics in the Key of G.

The album, which pays tribute to composers and musicians who have inspired his work, "borrows from the past, and I thought I should give to the future."

So Kenny G (G for Gorelick) presented the foundation's first $ 250,000 donation to Communities In Schools, Inc., which works with needy schools to help young people stay enrolled and prepare for life.

He decided to donate 100% of the profits from What A Wonderful World, a single from the Classics album, to the foundation, and aims to raise $ 1 million by the end of 2000 for distribution to various school organizations.

His hope is that under-served children will be exposed to the joys of music, and that tomorrow's musicians will receive the same kind of encouragement and inspiration that he got in school.

While educators often focus on the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, a complete education requires more than these fundamentals.

If we are to help children grow into mature, caring adults, we must encourage them to develop more than their minds -- we must help them get in touch with their hearts. And there is no better vehicle than music and the arts.

"You don't get inspired because you make a lot of money," said Kenny G, a married father of two young sons. "You get inspired because you get creative. Music is what makes me feel alive. Hitting a perfect note. Mixing sounds until they're seamless. For me, it's about listening to the music I've made, and knowing I've stretched out as far as I can in the song."

As a parent, the musician is concerned about the violence, sexual images and gritty language found in mediums ranging from TV to the Internet.

"The television is a great thing, if used properly," said Kenny G. "But there's a lot of violence on TV because it's got shock value. The more sex, nudity and violence you put in, the more it'll get talked about. I don't let my 6-year-old son have the remote to surf channels, and I don't let him surf the Internet. The goal should be to get kids into music and things that are creative, not things with a thrill factor."

The kind of music Kenny G writes and performs takes listeners on journeys of the heart. His soulful sax taps into the moment, evoking different emotions for everyone.

"My music gives people an opportunity to get into whatever they need to," he said. "One person may listen, and feel great joy inside. Another person may listen to the same song, and feel sad. It's all about the mood, and what's inside them.

"Most people are afraid to take the bad with the good. They want the good with the good. But life isn't that way. Nothing's going to be great all the time.

"But it isn't going to be bad every time either."

Kenny G Takes On Standards On 'Key of G' Arista Set Includes 'Wonderful World' Remake With Armstrong Vocals By Charles Karel Bouley

Los Angeles-On "Classics In the Key of G," due June 29 on Arista, superstar instrumentalist Kenny G hopes to introduce a new generation to some old standards.

"I'm very lucky in that I have a lot of fans across the world," he comments. "I hope that I can use the success I've been given to spur people to buy this record of new old classics."

His 11th outing for Arista is a departure for an artist whose recordings typically have an overt pop leaning. "I don't try to classify my music," he says. "I know that sounds like I'm evading the question of categorization, but I'm not. There are a lot of different qualifications for that. Some think that jazz is the only traditional way that people can play instrumental music, but for me, I'm just a sax player, and I play whatever I feel at the time." Kenny G emerged into mainstream consciousness in 1982 with an eponymous set, but it wasn't until his fourth album, 'Duotones"-which boasted the hit single "Songbird"-that the world took notice. Since then, he has gone on to become, according to Arista VP of marketing Adam Sexton, "the largest-selling solo instrumentalist of all time."

"It took me a few records before anyone even knew I existed," Kenny G reflects. "Clive Davis is one of those guys who goes out of his way to help his artists. I wasn't selling enough records to justify them retaining me. Then, finally, I hit."

Once established, Kenny G built upon his success with each release. He hopes that momentum will carry "Classics In The Key of G." It's an album laced with interesting reworkings of classics such as "The Look of Love," "Summertime" (featuring George Benson), "The Girl From Ipanema" (featuring Babel Gilberto), and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." The lead contender for the first single is a duet 50 years in the making-a rendition of "What A Wonderful World" featuring vocals taken from its original recording by Louis Armstrong.

"I couldn't imagine who-outside of Louis Armstrong-could sing it," Kenny G says. "So, I got hold of the original vocals. David Foster agreed to produce it, much like the Natalie Cole duet 'Unforgettable' with her father. It's an incredible experience to listen to, and it was beyond belief to create."

"What A Wonderful World" is not jus a commercial endeavor for Kenny G and Arista; it's a philanthropic one as well. "All the proceeds from that song will go to a new foundation I have established for at-risk children," says Kenny G. "The foundation will funnel the money to charities to purchase musical instruments and to supplement funding for the arts in schools. I've decided since the government has decided to cut back, it's time for me to give back."

"Wonderful World" has a sentimental hold on many Americans, but will that translate into sales?

"We never take anything for granted," says Sexton. "However, we are confident that this is the perfect vehicle to showcase what this album is-classic American repertoire."

Some retailers view Kenny G as an evergreen artist whose fan base is unwaveringly loyal. "He has an appeal that transcends trends," says John Wilkes, assistant buyer for Compact Disc World, a nine-store chain based in South Plainfield, N.J. "The material on this album sounds like a natural for him."

Marketing an album of standards presents interesting challenges for Arista. "This album will broaden his demographic and cuts across a variety of fan bases," Sexton says. "In an industry that likes to put people in boxes, Kenny crosses so many different genres. Kenny G has always been a special type of artist who charts his own path, and he doesn't dothings like other artists"

Those ideas include a heavy television campaign featuring major talk shows, a PBS special, and a satellite media tour from New York, tentatively set for June 30. Starbucks will have point-of-sale items, and Barnes & Noble's Internet sales site is starting a new online music source with Kenny G as the first featured artist. Also, Web retailer Cdnow is doing a "Flyaway" contest, giving people a chance to win a trip to New York in August to see Kenny G in concert.

"The Web allows us to cut out the middleman and go directly from Arista to the Kenny G fan at home with soundclips, video, electronic press kits every tool we could want or need directly to the consumer," Sexton says.

Kenny G will support the album with a tour that kicks off in September in Los Angeles and spreads across the globe. He is managed by Dennis Turner of Turner Management and booked by Mike Piranian at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles.

Creatively, "Classics In The Key of G" is a collaborative effort for the artist, who worked with such luminaries as Nathan East, Benson, Gilberto, Gregg Phillinganes, and Pauhlino DaCosta.

"I'm lucky to be at a place where I can experiment and grow musically," Kenny G says. "Doing this album was one of my biggest challenges because of everyone's familiarity with the pieces. But it is quickly becoming one of my favorites."