That was beautiful. It sums up my feelings toward Kenny G perfectly.

I agree. Kenny G. is, to me, unlistenable. My solution to this is not to listen to it.

But one thing I can’t agree on is:

There ARE some things that are sacred - and amongst any musician that has ever attempted to address jazz at even the most basic of levels, Louis Armstrong and his music is hallowed ground. To ignore this trespass is to agree that NOTHING any musician has attempted to do with their life in music has any intrinsic value - and I refuse to do that.

So Kenny put his awful playing over a Louis Armstrong track. And Pat didn’t like it. And thinks, in effect, that some music is ok to mess with but not others. As a personal opinion, that’s fine—but it is very, very dangerous in the wild. We have limitations of ownership set in law precisely to make this not permissible. Culture creates art, and our common culture gets it back from the individual in return, and hence we grow and improve overall.

That’s my two cents.

(But you can be damn sure that future listeners will be enjoying the original What a Wonderful World—or the Nick Cave/Shane MacGowan version. Not the Kenny G version.)

Kenny G starts in at a severe deficit with me from go. I never really thought soprano sax was a particularly useful instrument—tone is too nasal in all but the most expert hands and that part can usually be played to better effect with a clarinet or oboe. On top of my prejudice regarding the instrument, he’s a horrible hack playing reception area jazz-ish. As someone who has tried in the past to make a nickel or a dime playing music, I understand the solidarity that would disincline a fellow from slagging another’s output. As a musician all too aware of his own limitations and properly awed by the greats (and one who started out on alto sax forever ago) I stand behind Pat’s bloodying of Gorelick’s nose 100%. I just go him one further—it was wrong when Natalie Cole did it, it was wrong when Tony Bennett did it, it’s still wrong and lazy, presumptuous and clueless today.

(Also Pat isn’t immune from the elevator jazz taint at all times himself. But then, I like my jazz to swing like mad and pour sweat.)

There was recently a jazz festival at the outdoor concert park across the street from us (yes, across the street). I was elated, told Spazmo, and then we got in this little spat about whether or not we would go.

Anyway, I won, because, i mean, Jazz Festival, across the street!

Until we saw the headline act, Kenny G! And then Spazmo won, and we both stayed home, gladly.

That’s pretty awful but check
this out.

Holy crap, that’s bad.