Kenny G's career started with a job as a sideman for Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973 while 17 and still in high school. He had loved the sport ever since his older brother, Brian Gorelick, introduced it to him when he was ten years old, which is the same age he was when he started playing the saxophone. He was also on his high school golf team. In addition to his studies while in high school, he took private lessons on the saxophone and clarinet from Johnny Jessen, once a week for a year. His Franklin High School classmate Robert Damper (piano, keyboards) plays in his band.
When he entered high school, he failed on his first try to get into the jazz band, but tried again the following year and earned first chair. Kenny G attended Whitworth Elementary School, Sharples Junior High School, Franklin High School, and the University of Washington, all in his home town of Seattle. His first saxophone was a Buffet Crampon alto.
He learned how to play under the direction of local trumpeter Gerald Pfister and by practicing along with records (mostly of Grover Washington, Jr.), trying to emulate the sounds that he was hearing. He started playing the saxophone in 1966 when he was 10 years old.
He came into contact with a saxophone when he heard someone performing with one on The Ed Sullivan Show. Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington, to Jewish parents (his mother was originally from Saskatchewan, Canada) and grew up in the city's Seward Park neighborhood, which is a center of the city's Jewish community. Kenny G is the biggest-selling instrumental musician of the modern era and one of the best-selling artists of all time, with global sales totaling more than 75 million records. His fourth album, Duotones, brought him breakthrough success in 1986. Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist.
You can also listen to the full version of "Paris by Night" here: "It was a wonderful (and painstaking) labor of love and I’m super proud of the end result.” Order and stream the album here: “ set out to compose and perform songs that capture the ‘heart and soul’ of beloved Jazz Standards and to record them 'my way,' said Kenny G. We are proud to premiere a sneak-peek video documenting the making of "Paris by Night," a song from the album inspired by Kenny G's many walks across Paris' iconic footbridges. The 11-song collection of original compositions takes inspiration from the Jazz Ballads of the ’50s and ’60s. Titled New Standards, the album was made available December 3 through Concord Records (with 2-LP set slated for release on February 11). World-renowned and Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Kenny G has released his first new album in six years. Legacy featuring “The Sound” of Stan Getz (3:56) The track listing for New Standards is as follows:ĥ. With top-selling studio albums including Duotones, Silhouette, Breathless, Miracles: The Holiday Album, Heart and Soul and Brazilian Nights, Kenny G has maintained decades of unprecedented commercial success. With global sales totaling more than 75-million records and 1.5 billion streams, the saxophonist has accumulated 24-award nominations throughout his almost 50-year career and has taken home a Grammy Award, American Music Award, NAACP Award,and two Soul Train Music Awards. Kenny G is an award-winning saxophonist, the biggest selling instrumental musician of the modern era and one of the best-selling artists of all time.
HBO will release the documentary LISTENING TO KENNY G in early December as part of the Music Box series created by Bill Simmons. For further information on the tour, dates, and on-sale info please visit Kenny G’s website.