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With his romantic ballads and elevator-ready instrumentals, smooth-jazz saxophonist Kenny G might be the last person you'd expect to ruffle feathers or butt heads.
But when Arista Records, his label of 25 years, balked at the 52-year-old Grammy winner's idea to write an album of bossa nova, salsa and samba-style songs, he walked away.
“They didn't like my idea. I knew it was the right idea for me – not another album of traditional songs. I think writing my own music is what people like the best,” Kenny G said, citing the reason for the split as “irreconcilable differences.”
“I'm kind of a different animal compared to what most record labels are used to dealing with. The fact that I'm an instrumentalist … it's always been a struggle to figure out what to do with me. At some point, they got this idea that every song had to be a classic from the '50s, '60s, or '70s.”
So Kenny G aligned himself with someone who could: Concord/Starbucks Entertainment (formerly called Hear Music), which has released albums by Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney and James Taylor. In February, the label released “Rhythm and Romance,” the Latin project he was so passionate about; it was his first collection of original songs in six years.
He and songwriting partner Walter Afanasieff surrounded themselves with a host of Latin players in the studio.
“I just try to put myself in that frame of mind – not a particular song or artist,” Kenny G explains of his inspiration. “I wanted to get my own feel for it. I don't want to emulate anybody's style.”
Fans can expect a balance of the upbeat material from “Rhythm and Romance” as well as Kenny G's classic ballads when he plays Belk Theater Tuesday. He'll also be raffling off a saxophone from his new signature saxophone line.
“I will play one song with that sax, and then hand it off to the person in the audience,” he says, adding that it's the first time on the tour he'll be holding a raffle for the new horns.
“They're modeled after a vintage saxophone from the '50s that I play,” he says, adding that he's still partial to his old horn. “As good as my saxes are, I'm going to (continue) to play my original horns.”
