JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It only takes a few notes for millions of people to recognize Kenny G when he’s playing the saxophone, and the prolific, best-selling instrumental musician of the modern era is heading to Jacksonville next month.
RELATED: Comedian Marlon Wayans ready to bring his ‘Wild Child Tour’ to Jacksonville on May 2
Kenny G, who has sold over 75 million albums worldwide and owns the best-selling instrumental record of all time with his 1992, 12x platinum album “Breathless,” will be performing at Jacksonville’s Florida Theatre on May 7.
Before the May 7 show, News4JAX spoke with the iconic musician about the show, his career and a few moments of his life that helped shape his success with a saxophone.
“You watch us play and you will see six guys on stage that I’ve been playing their instruments for 50 years,” Kenny G said. “We are proud of our accomplishments. Let us show off to you. What a person can do when they work on something for 50 years.”
He talked about how he and everyone he performs with approach each gig, including the one coming up in downtown Jacksonville.
“Our conversation is every single time we play, to us, it is like our careers depend on it, and we are playing at Carnegie Hall,” Kenny G said. “Even if we are playing at a high school for some kids or doing something, it is as if we are at Carnegie Hall and our career depends on that performance. I want to be at my very best. I practice hard.”
Kenny G says he is so thankful people like his music, his style and distinct sound. He says his love for music and developing his own talent mean a lot to him.
“I want them to like it, but I am not doing it for that reason,” he said. “That is the difference. Of course, I want everybody to think that I am the greatest. But I do not play my sax so that people will think that I am the greatest. I do it for me. When I play a song that means something to me, that is enough right there.”
Kenny G says he started playing the saxophone when he was 10 years old after being inspired from watching a Big Band featured on The Ed Sullivan Show.
It was a once in a lifetime opportunity he had when he was 17 years old that he says helped him realize he could do something special with music.
“When I was in high school, I got to play with Barry White professionally,” Kenny G said. “That is what I said to myself, I think you are good enough to be a professional musician. Let’s do it.”
Things really took off for him when he signed with Aritsa Records in 1982.
That is the major record label the legendary Clive Davis founded in 1974.
Arista Records launched the careers of superstars, including the late greats Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin, along with Patti Smith and Barry Manilow.
Kenny G told News4JAX that working with Davis and Aritsa Records changed his trajectory when it was a struggle to get radio stations to promote instrumental artists.
“We went around the country, myself and some guys from Arista records,” he said. “We went from city to city like knocking on the door of these radio stations and going like, ‘Hey, would you play this music? No, we cannot play that music. That’s a saxophone.’ We were like, ‘Just try it.’ They were like, ‘Alright, we’ll right. We’ll try it.’ Then they would put it on and all of a sudden they would get a bunch of phone calls. They would go, ‘We did not expect that. Then it becomes a hit because of that.”
Thanks to the musical lines and runs he has perfected over the many decades of playing, Kenny G has become a household name, which is something he does not take for granted.
“The late great David Sanborn and I we’re having a conversation on the telephone once. David Sanborn has a very distinct alto saxophone style,” he said. “We were talking and I said, ‘David, anybody when they hear you play they know it is you.’ He goes, ‘Yeah. That’s just what happened the second I started playing the sax.’ I said, ‘Me too. I did not even try to make up a style.’ You get lucky like that. You get very lucky. Sometimes you find the thing that you were meant to do and sometimes you just get lucky that when you do it, you do it in a way that is different than everybody else has done it and people like it. My style could be something that the world would be like, ‘Wow he sounds different from everybody else. We hate it.’ They can easily say that. I’m glad that they don’t.
Kenny G’s show at Florida Theatre is set for 8 p.m. It is a part of a short tour that includes stops in Orlando, West Palm Beach, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Kentucky.
Tickets can be found here, and News4JAX’s full interview with Kenny G can be watched below.
