“My concerts are full of energy, more energy than most people would imagine”

We have been able to hear his music in films such as “Pretty Woman”, “The Bodyguard” or “Wall Street”, it surpasses -by far- the great names in jazz history in record sales and his own is written about a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He made hits like “Silhouette”, “Forever in Love”, “Songbird”, “The Moment” or “Sentimental”. All this, even if the purists of the genre like it little or not at all and others consider it a misunderstood talent. Precisely about how inexplicable his success is for many, he talks about “Listening to Kenny G”, the documentary directed by Penny Lane and recently released on HBO Max that, through interviews and testimonials, shows us an artist who is as kind as he is intelligent, as well as tolerant of his harshest critics. About that audiovisual document, his first days with Barry White, his relationship with the saxophone he has played since he was a teenager, his experience with R&B in a Seattle agitated by grunge and his passion to become a better musician, he spoke with El Comercio in the next interview.

─ 13 years have passed since your last visit to Peru. How does it feel to come back after so long?

I love coming back. I remember that the last time I was in Peru, 13 years ago, as you say, what I enjoyed the most was the Peruvian-Japanese food, it was really delicious. I’m excited to be back because I’ll also have a few days to take advantage of Lima and I really hope that people will enjoy coming to my show, just as I will enjoy getting to know their city.

─What is the biggest test you had to go through in order to become a successful saxophonist?

First of all, I want to say that I’ve been playing the same saxophone since I was in high school. It’s a beautiful instrument that has practically become a part of my body, it’s a part of me, so it’s impossible for me to imagine playing another saxophone. I don’t think I’ve had to go through any challenges to achieve success, I’ve just continued to be disciplined in my practice and worked very hard trying to become the best saxophonist I can be. That, to me, is the most important thing: consistently keep practicing your subject and try to be better with each passing day. I think that’s what I do and then the rest of the stuff falls into place.

─You were born in Seattle, a place linked much more to grunge than to your musical style. What was it like to be young in a context like that, with bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden or Pearl Jam?

Honestly, I never listened to grunge music, so it never had an effect on me. I grew up in a neighborhood where there was a lot of R&B listening, so that’s how I started out, and as I got older and went from high school to college I started listening to more jazz, so I think I ended up mixing the two styles. I’m proud because my sound is unique and I’m glad people seem to enjoy what I do.

─What is your best memory of your time with Barry White?

I played with Barry White when I was still in high school. It was a wonderful experience playing on a professional set at such a young age. This created in me a confidence that I could play with professional musicians and that he was good enough and therefore could continue to do this.

─What do you feel has changed the most since the 90s, with all the success and fame that those years meant to you, compared to today?

Things are quite different from how they were in the 90s. Especially with social platforms and music streaming, it makes for completely different situations. It is very difficult to reach people. Before, when I had a concert, I knew that they played my songs on the radio and since everyone listened to one radio, everyone knew about the concert. Now, with so many things to pay attention to, it’s hard to reach people. It’s even hard for them to find out that we’re coming to their cities to play, so it’s much more challenging this way. Also, people don’t listen to music in the same way, putting on a record. Now it’s streaming from your mobile devices and it’s not the same. There is good and bad.

─You have done duets with Elton John, Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand or Katy Perry. Which one have you enjoyed the most?

Regarding the duets, I enjoy each one for the music and I don’t compare them. If I accept the contract to play a duet, it’s because of the music. If I like the music I will create a solo that works and I take pride in those things. For me, it’s like putting together a puzzle and finding the missing piece, and when I do that I feel very satisfied.

─What thing in the world is the one that gives you the most inspiration to create your music and develop your interpretations?

About the inspiration of my music, I can’t tell you something specific, but I think what happens is that I have a certain feeling when I play my saxophone and when I play certain notes and melodies something happens and I understand if this can be a song and I go from there. . It usually happens with the saxophone in my hands, sometimes while driving, or sitting down, and suddenly a melody comes to me, but most of the time it’s when I pick up my saxophone and start playing notes that inspire me to write a melody of they. This is how I get my inspiration.

─Is the feeling of playing the saxophone comparable to that of flying planes, your other passion? Could you choose one between the two if you had to?

From the same idea of ​​trying to master a skill, like golf, something I enjoy. Of course also playing the sax for me is the same, as it’s something I enjoy, I try to become really good at it, because I enjoy it more when I’m good at something, and I’ll enjoy it more if I’m great at it, and I’ll enjoy it even more when it’s even better. So I try to get to that level with things that I like and that’s the similarity there.

─What feeling did the recent HBO documentary about your life leave you with? How does it feel to see what you’ve accomplished with your career like in a movie? Because there are also moments that are very critical of your music…

I think it was a wonderful documentary about how people like different styles of music and how passionate they are about it. There are some critics who don’t like my music, they’re very passionate about it, and I think it’s great that their voices were included in my documentary, so it wasn’t a movie about me or my life, or how great it is. This or that. It’s really an opening to discuss how passionate people are about their music and why they think it’s great or not, and how an artist like me can handle critics. So the main thing, if people were to get something out of the documentary, would be to believe in themselves and work really hard at what they do and not worry about what people say. If they are passionate about what they do, obviously, that will lead them to be happier people. Find what you really like to do and work hard at it to get really good at it. That’s how I think people will generally be happier.

─Finally, what can we expect from the show that you will give in Lima as part of the New Standards tour?

We’re going to play songs from our older records and probably a song from our New Standards record. I’m sure most of the people who will be coming to our concert won’t have heard our new record, because it’s the way it is nowadays, so we’ll probably give them a song to enjoy in advance. My concerts are full of energy, more energy than most people would imagine. We have a band and everyone gets to do their solos, so if you want to see an awesome percussion solo, you’ll see it, as well as piano, guitar, bass and of course saxophone. I think we make our music very accessible to people, so even though we’re playing complicated songs with a lot of notes and probably complicated jazz songs, we’re doing it in a way that people can really absorb and enjoy. I hope people leave my concert thinking or rather knowing that they have seen six great musicians on stage doing what they do, and what they have worked their whole lives to do, because we have all dedicated our lives to our instruments. We take pride in how good we are and we hope people walk away thinking they’ve seen six musicians at the highest level and probably get inspired by that. Probably a lot of young people come to the concert and get inspired and pick up an instrument because they were really moved by what they saw.