Kenny G On Soprano

[Z]

Why do people like Kenny G’s tone on the Soprano??? I mean any note with the octave key he plays is good and it pops fine but anything lower without the octave key is almost nasal sounding and super thin and I just hate it. I’ve heard him on the tenor and alto and it sounds great! His vibrato on the tenor and alto doesn’t sound weird like it does on the soprano either. But his most popular stuff is probably on soprano which I just don’t get. Also that I vi iv V progression isn’t too hard to play over either 😉 Any opinions?? I kind of want to hear your opinions on this, as I’ve always wondered.

[Z]

I forgot that you can’t see the original post on this forum (at least I can’t) maybe I’m just crazy. So I’m gonna repost the original again.

Why do people like Kenny G’s tone on the Soprano??? I mean any note with the octave key he plays is good and it pops fine but anything lower without the octave key is almost nasal sounding and super thin and I just hate it. I’ve heard him on the tenor and alto and it sounds great! His vibrato on the tenor and alto doesn’t sound all weird like it does on the soprano either. But his most popular stuff is probably on soprano which I just don’t get. Also that I vi iv V progression isn’t too hard to play over either 😉 Any opinions?? I kind of want to hear your opinions on this, as I’ve always wondered.

[john]

Ok, I see both your posts so not sure whats up with that. I will look into it.
Next time try writing it and giving it a few minutes then refresh the page…I know the blog was like that, not instantly there but then would be there a few minutes later.
As for Kenny G, I can’t listen to him playing soprano either. I used to be inspired by some guys playing soprano like John Coltrane and eventually bought a selmer M6 but I ended up selling it…. did I sell it because of Kenny G? Probably not but he didn’t help!
I don’t knock him, he’s obviously a good player but I don’t go for that syrup sound too sweet and sucky…and if you’ve ever watched him check out the placement of his sax in his mouth, it’s sideways, not straight in the middle, very weird.

[Michael Bishop]

I had planned later this year, like around the fall, to get me a Soprano Saxophone but didn’t plan on spending anywhere near as much $ as I recently did with my Trevor James Alto/Tenor. For all practical purposes, I think it would be much wiser just to get a decent used Soprano and pair it up with a good MP/Reed; as Johnny has told us on multiple occasions how important our MP/reed combination is. Most of the music I like to hear on the Soprano is certainly not today’s music though. I’ve heard some songs that King Curtis has done on the Soprano and I think it’s beautiful. I was planning on doing stuff like “Moonlight Serenade” as it was originally done on the Clarinet; but I thought it would be nice on the Soprano Saxophone too. Another one I was planning was “St.Elmo’s Fire” as a Soprano/Tenor duet. I could use the Alto in place of the Soprano for playing those famous Piano lines; but I thought the Soprano would fit in nicely played on the Piano lines.

[Z]

St. Elmo’s fire is an awesome song! We did It for show choir this year and I only realized after a couple competitions that It was like an 80s style pop rock song. The chorus gets me goin everytime; you can’t not headband a little bit when you hear it!

[Michael Bishop]

Great points Aminn-I’ve got the sheet music for Bb Saxophones for both the Piano lines and Sax lines; just working on a custom backing track for it. I could play the Piano lines with the Alto and I think it would still be fun, but in this case I think the Soprano would be ideal. Just listen to the Piano being played on that song…I think the Soprano would capture more of the “essence” of St.Elmo’s Fire (Piano Lines) than the Alto would. Of course, nothing is going to replace those Tenor Lines 🙂 I’ve actually learned the Sax Lines on Tenor for this song and it’s dead-easy; it’s very repetitive and just uses the basic notes of the scale. The way we play/embellish it will really make it shine though. Have you gotten your Sax yet? Lookin’ forward to hearing you “blow your brains out” with that beast. Come to think of it…I think it would be cool if you and I did a duet together for Johnny’s blog. I got some projects that are ideal as a duet. Let me know if you’re interested. We’re in the middle of a move right now so we have some time. I’ll start uploading to Johnny’s blog again here pretty soon…just trying to get all of these packed boxes moved out of this house and into our new one!

[Richard West]

I think Kenny G is a great saxophonist but have to agree with Johhby that some of his stuff is aimed squarely at the female market and elderly people like my brother ha ha and it’s very syrupy sweet I think he’s much more listenable on Alto and Tenor but sometimes the general public find hard and funky sax a bit too rich for their tastes and Kenny G to me plays Muzak for the older generation not funky enough for me personally

[Michael Bishop]

I’ve had a 1-2 conversations with my relatives about Kenny G…I don’t want to take anything away from the guy (I’m just a student sax player) and I do think there are a few cool songs that he’s done, mostly duets with Michael Bolton and Peabo Bryson. But as I explained to them, as you get going with the Saxophone you’re no longer that impressed with it because you come to see that his music is played with the objective of targeting a specific audience in mind because they realized that it would sell and make $. I’ve seen interviews with Kenny G and, as a person, he seems to be a really nice guy which is always great to see. But coming from a Saxophone point of view….give me King Curtis, Big Jay McNeely, Junior Walker, Red Prysock, etc.. Now THESE GUYS are Saxophone players 🙂 Kenny G’s music simply doesn’t compare with them.

[Z]

Michael that’s really nice of you to want to do a duet but honestly it’s just always easier to work by myself. I’ve always kind of been that way. I hope you can understand,, but maybe someday we could try to work something out; we’ll have to see. Unfortunately.. I probably can’t upload any more videos until the start of the next school year or so because what I used to record with was a Macbook Pro that the school music department owns and all of us music theory kids could use them to do our projects. We’re not allowed to take them home though. I’m getting a job this summer (Sadly) and I’ll hopefully be able to buy my own Macbook, and then I’ll be able to start recording music again. As for the horn,, it’s awesome. Looks great, plays great. Despite what they said about it being a “loud and bright” horn I’ve found it to be quite the opposite. It’s got a really dark sound to it, but I plan on getting my HR piece refaced to be a bit more open to make it project a little more. (Still need money for that,, hence the job I need to get 🙁 Lol. I hope your TJ’s are working great for you too; best of luck with your projects!

[Michael Bishop]

Okay Ammin–I’ve done a duet with our Member Jake and it was great fun to say the least. I would love to see an upload of your playing, regardless of what Sax your using. Sounds like your enjoying your Sax, that Trevor James will last you for a very, very long time. What’s your MP and ligature set up?
My T.J. Saxophones are just….awesome. Both the Alto and the Tenor “hit the nail on the head” for me. Both the Alto and the Tenor are balanced in such a way that I don’t think it gets any better than this (for my taste anyway); bright, edgy, warm, punchy, etc.. I’ll start uploading the first of my projects to “Member’s Recordings” here on Johnny’s forum very, very soon….keep an eye out for them as I always appreciated insights from Member’s to help us improve what we do right and address areas that need work. Really looking forward to the open space in our new place we’re moving into—I started my own little Saxophone wall of fame with framed pictures of different players–Johnny was gracious enough to send me a autographed pic. of himself to me..looks great in its frame.

[Author]

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