Kenny G’s Paradise

Kenny G titled his new album Paradise and inadvertently brought up the question of what, indeed, is paradise.

Freedom, riches, true love can bring about paradise. For some Pinoys it is simply food and a roof over their heads. For others it is Christmas Eve in a house with a fireplace burning, chimney smoking and snow falling outside. Kenny takes on the opposite tack. If we are to believe what he presents to his listeners in Paradise, then paradise for him is moonlit evenings on the beach in Brazil or Spain where ocean breezes blow with music coming from a saxophone.

The sax is the sexiest of all musical instruments and Kenny G has definitely learned to milk his playing to the max in order to set the mood for romance. This, say his critics, is what keeps his music from rising to greatness. On the other hand though, this honest commercial approach is also what makes people buy his CDs. The fact that he has sold 70 million albums worldwide during his long, successful career proves he has been doing things right and his fans will never think of having them otherwise.

Every cut in Paradise seems to have come from a languorous tropical setting and Kenny has appropriate titles for the nine tracks he wrote with his co-producer Walter Afanasleff. Brazil, Paradise, Malibu Dreams, Spanish Nights, Seaside Jam, Ocean Breeze, Falling in the Moonlight, Midnight Magic and Peace. There are two cuts with vocals One More Time where Kenny’s soprano sax acquired the right singing partner with the enchanting Chante Moore and All the Way where Kenny performs with songwriter and co-producer Brian McKnight. Of course, Brian’s sexy singing style also goes very well with Kenny’s sax.

Paradise comes at a time when Kenny is celebrating his 20th year in the music business. Then Arista head Clive Davis saw him performing with Jeff Lorber’s band and signed him to a recording contract as a soloist in 1981. Davis is a music industry legend known for his flair for spotting future stars. Simon and Garfunkel, Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys are some of them. Davis saw star quality in the young sax player named Kenny Gorelick and he was again proven right.

Kenny G the first album was released in 1982. This was followed by G-Force and Gravity. The breakthrough came about with Duotones where his sweet romantic style was introduced via the hit Songbird. Silhouette, an even bigger success came next. From then on every Kenny G album that came out was an instant big seller. Kenny G Live, Dying Young, the movie soundtrack, Breathless, with the Grammy winning Forever in Love, then Miracles: The Holiday Album, now the bestselling Christmas album of all time, The Moment, Kenny G Greatest Hits, Classics in the Key of G, Faith, A Holiday Album, another Christmas release and now Paradise.

Will Paradise fare as well as its predecessors? Quite likely if everybody who ever bought a Kenny G album before will also treat themselves to this one. Kenny has done better in the past but the chill-out concept of this one adds something new to his style and opens new possibilities in his future works.

Since it is now only 78 days to go till Christmas, it is about time you get your Yuletide albums out of storage. Nothing beats Christmas music as far as getting into a holiday mood is concerned. So why not enjoy all those songs for a longer period than only during December? Times may be hard. The coming year might prove to be more difficult but for a few days a year, hope reigns in the hearts of everybody.

The music of Kenny G has been part of the Christmas celebration since he released Miracles in 1994. Made up of Christmas favorites and a few originals, it became his first number one seller and was proclaimed eight times Platinum last week. That means sales of more than eight million units. This, plus the almost triple Platinum Faith, a Holiday Album from 1999 makes Kenny G the biggest selling Holiday artist of today.

Faith is the one that contains the nearly eight-minute millineum version of Auld Lang Syne with soundbytes from important people and events of the last century. That means Thomas Edison, the Depression, Winston Churchill, down to Elvis, the Beatles, Princess Diana, Austin Powers and many others. Listening to it is like watching a newsreel.