Sounding new again

Sax artist Kenny G faced a difficult challenge when it was time for him to record his 15th album and first studio recording after two years. And that is how to sound new again. This is the same one every major artist encounters after several years of success. How will he maintain his stature? What can he do to be exciting again? What can he do that music buyers will not find boring? What can he make that will tell his younger rivals, he is still "The Man"?

Kenny G’s sax has a sweet, caressing sound that has sold over 70 million albums all over the world. But 25 years is a long time and there have already been instances in the recent past when sales of his albums strayed far from his Songbird days. Still, Kenny G is too young and too talented to consider retiring while on top of his game. Thankfully, somebody came up with a great solution to the problem. Kenny G should record duets with other major artists.

Very interesting. Santana did that to great acclaim. So did Sinatra many years ago. Truth to tell, Kenny G has already done similar collaborations in his past releases. So why not a whole album of the same sort this time? Then, he is also such a big star and great sax player that it will not be hard to entice the big names to join him in this venture. And then there is the best reason of all. Every song in the album will definitely sound new and different. The buyers will love that.

The result is Duets, recently released all over Asia by BMG and it features collaborations and interpretations that might never have happened if Kenny G had not decided to record this album. Come to think of it, I am sure many of those who joined Kenny G in this venture also enjoyed themselves. They got the opportunity to work with a friend in something different and did not have to consider image or the demands of their market. After all, selling the album is the problem of Kenny G’s label. So they probably had a lot of fun.

Without Duets, we would not have had the chance to hear Chaka Khan’s elegant rendition of Beautiful. This should send Christina Aguilera quaking in her thigh-high boots. R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly, which has descended to triteness in recent times, is inspiring anew, thanks to Yolanda Adams. Who would have thought a trumpet and a sax could be effective as a duet? Well, it is when you have Kenny G and Arturo Sandoval in At Last. What about the combination of an alto and tenor sax? It works when Kenny G performs the Average White Band’s Pick Up the Pieces with David Sanborn.

Other cuts in the star-studded line-up are: (Everything I Do) I Do It for You featuring LeAnn Rimes; Careless Whisper with Brian McKnight and Earl Klugh; Baby Come to Me featuring Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates; Misty with Gladys Knight; Don’t Know Why with pianist David Benoit; The Way You Move with Earth, Wind & Fire; Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word with Richard Marx; Alfie with Burt Bacharach on the piano; and The Music That Makes Me Dance with Barbra Streisand.

With the challenge of having to work within the limitations set by his guests, most of whom recorded their portions first, Kenny G brought out bursts of ingenuity listeners will surely find most exciting. It is a masterful job. Mission accomplished. Kenny G music is new again.

I have just one bone to pick with Duets. The last cut in the CD available in the local music shops is De Mil Colores, which features Latin artist Rosario. There are four other cuts in an Asian edition of the album and these see Kenny G doing duets with artists from Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea and Japan. Sadly, he does not duet with any Filipino talent. I can name so many who would have done a good job and made us Pinoys truly proud. But, for reasons we do not know, it didn’t happen. So content yourselves with Rosario and her De Mil Colores. Her name and song sound Filipino anyway.