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Kenny G's new CD has a Latin-American flavour, with most of the tunes co-written by Kenny G and pianist Walter Afanasieff. What was good enough for Dudley is generally good enough for me. Dudley Moore chose Kenny to play on two of his most beautiful recordings - Brogan and Faithfully Yours on Dudley's album Songs Without Words (an album I advise you to buy if you see it anywhere - one of the multi-talented Dud's finest works). Kenny plays the soprano sax on all but one track of this album ( Fiesta Loca has him on tenor sax) and he makes the soprano sound mellifluous - which is not an easy job, as the soprano saxophone is one of the most intractable of Adolphe Sax's inventions. I actually enjoy hearing sweet sounds from the saxophone, whether it be the soaring lyricism of Johnny Hodges or the warmth of Coleman Hawkins and Stan Getz. So perhaps I am being reckless in admitting that I like his work (although I don't like his strange hairstyle). Whatever the reason, Kenny G has been heavily criticised - or simply ignored - in many jazz circles. Perhaps it's because his moniker - Kenny G - sounds too "pop" for some people (but you might understand his wanting to conceal his surname, which is Gorelick). Or perhaps some musicians are jealous of Kenny's success: selling millions of record albums (38 million at the last count), and he has been used by many artists to supply saxophone solos on their recordings. It may be due to the fact that Kenny first became famous in the genre of jazz=rock, which is much maligned by many reviewers. It may be that Kenny is not really a good musician (among some scathing comments, Pat Metheny has said "Kenny G plays the dumbest music on the planet"). He has been dismissed as "pseudo-jazz", "Muzak" and "insipid". This may be because Kenny plays sweetly and smoothly, and we all know how any kind of smooth jazz is anathema to the average jazz critic. Kenny G seems to have been singled out by many jazz reviewers and musicians as a target for odium. Michito Sanchez, Rafael Padilla, Ron Powell, Paulinho Da Costa - Percussionīill Reichenbach, Andy Martin - Trombones Walter Afanasieff - Piano, keyboard and rhythm programming Reviewers: Don Mather, Tony Augarde, Dick Stafford, John Eyles, Robert Gibson, Ian Lace, Colin Clarke, Jack AshbyĬoncord/Starbucks Entertainment 0888072306707 Kenny G Rhythm and Romance 0888072306707 : Jazz CD Reviews- 2008 MusicWeb International CD Reviews