Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Jazz Battles


TBogg gives us the blow by blow of the smackdown of Kenny G by Pat Metheny. Ouch.

6 comments:

Cleveland Jeff said...

That Kenny G got insulted by Pat Metheny raises my opinion of Kenny G ever so slightly. I can't believe Pat would waste his breath.

Kind of like Mohammed Ali telling us that Hulk Hogan isn't a real fighter. Do you really think the Hulk/Kenny G fans will care?

reddyrooster said...

Jeff-- "Do you really think the Hulk/Kenny G fans will care?" No, I don't think either of them will...

Cleveland Bob said...

My point with the post was more the lucid venom with which Metheny attacks KG. It's really some fine writing.

I'm confident that the true artists of the jazz ouevre HATE Kenny G. Mostly because of his hackery, but probably as much so for his popularity among the great unwashed.

Kenny G. He's the Bryant Gumbel of jazz.

darkblack said...

'Mostly because of his hackery, but probably as much so for his popularity among the great unwashed.'

Oh, they'd probably like a piece of that sweet pie - although they might deny it to keep up the pure appearances.
Fact is (generalization alert) nobody buys Jazz in big enough numbers to make it attractive to those who seek wider fame in the musical realm - those who practice it do so out of love, or duty in some cases.
Even the 'smooth jazz' genre (where some of my homeboys make their bread), while garnering radio play and steady small-to-mid-size-venue ticket sales, barely makes a ripple in American record company quarterly reports.
The real knock on Mr. Gorelick is that he has a limited set of basic runs on his axe, and he plays them all in sharpish pitch against the key of the tune - not enough for a casual listener to notice, but an aficionado or trained musician surely will.
That, and bogarting himself all over that Satchmo record was enough to get him kicked out of Jazz Valhalla...Something that he no doubt cries himself to sleep at night over from high atop his fat wallet.

;>)

Cleveland Bob said...

All hail, darkblack.

reddyrooster said...

Who knew a post about *shudder* Kenny G would spark this amount of comments?