A romantic Kenny G in Love Ballads

The sax is the sexiest of musical instruments. More so when it is the legendary Kenny G doing the blowing. Fans say it is so because his is a unique talent. Non-admirers say it is all because of his most distinctive feature, his hair, which is long and thick and curly. The effect of that hair is so sexy that people tend to think the same of his music.

I’ve never paid much attention to the hair and I sometimes think that his notes are too long and very manipulative. However, after listening to his new compilation Love Ballads, I must admit that I do not only believe that Kenny G music is sexy because of the sax, not the hair, but because he softens every passage, he also makes anything sound terribly romantic.

Okay, so I have been manipulated. Maybe because these are the last relaxing days of the year. Don’t you just want to kick off your shoes and curl up in a large, soft chair before you get into the holiday battleground? Kenny G makes you do that. And Love Ballads does it in a big way because it contains his best. And in this case, that best means not just his hits but best, the way we Pinoys like sax music, jazzy but not jazz, and not too many adlibs or straying away from the melody.

He missed out on a great one, his One More Time with Chante Moore. On the other hand, there is Jasmine Flower, which is not available in his other hit collections. Otherwise, almost all that we like, those I think are his achingly sweet performances from his past recordings are here.

The Moment; Songbird; Theme from Dying Young; Everytime I Close My Eyes with Babyface; Don’t Make Me Wait for Love with Lenny Williams; Forever in Love; Missing You Now by Michael Bolton; The Moon Represents My Heart; My Heart Will Go On, the Theme from Titanic; You’re Beautiful; How Could an Angel Break My Heart by Toni Braxton; Going Home; We’ve Saved the Best for Last with Smokey Robinson; Silhouette; Loving You; By the Time This Night is Over with Peabo Bryson; and The Way We Were.

And that is not all. Love Ballads is a two-disc set that also includes a DVD of Kenny G performances. There are nine cuts, most of them tunes from the CD plus Sentimental and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Make note while listening to that last track that you must get copies of Kenny G’s two great Christmas albums, Miracles: The Holiday Album and Faith. These can put you in a Christmas mood without straining your nerves.

Incidentally, if you like your music just as relaxing as Kenny G’s but of a more spiritual sort, you should keep watch for The Priests. The Priests in the title actually means the word, priests. This is because this trio of classical singers that make up the group is in real life, priests from Ireland who have sang the sacred liturgy for the Pope.

The priests are Father Eugene O’ Hagan of the Parish of Ballyclare and Ballygowan: The Church of the Sacred Heart and Church of the Holy Family, Diocese of Down and Connor; his brother Father Martin O’Hagan of the Parish of Cushendun: Church of St. Patrick (Craigagh), Church of St. Mary, The Star of the Sea (Culraney), Diocese of Down and Connor; and Father David Delargy of the Parish of Hannahstown: Church of St. Joseph and Church of St. Peter, the Rock, Diocese of Down and Connor.

Its self-titled album is the big event for November. It is made up of heavenly renditions of sacred classics like Ave Maria, Gloria, the Irish Blessing, Panis Angelicus and Pie Jesu and would be just right for Christmas listening.

Now if your trip is not just listening but also creating beautiful music, you might want to hie off to Ryan Cayabyab’s Music School at Robinsons Galleria for some violin lessons. Dino Decena, the former concert master of the acclaimed San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra, which sad to say has been disbanded, will be there to give violin lessons Monday afternoons.

For details, call 914-5055.