Kenny G Quotes

#1. I was really amazed when I started hearing 'Songbird' on the radio. I couldn't believe that the record company promotion department had actually convinced radio music directors to play it -because there wasn't anything like it on the radio at the time.

Kenny G

#2. Finally, I was no longer a student and was making music for myself.

Kenny G

#3. Any saxophone player will have those influences come through in their music in a very different way. I can listen to the same 10 sax players as someone else for my entire life, and we'll both play completely differently. That's the beauty of being a musician.

Kenny G

#4. If I even lose my glasses or make a mistake. I become really disappointed in myself.

Kenny G

#5. Just figure out what you think jazz is, and then if it fits into that category, it's jazz, and if it doesn't, it isn't. It's no big deal.

Kenny G

#6. When I play live, I feel how the audience is going and follow and lead at the same time.

Kenny G

#7. Being a purely instrumental album, it makes a musical statement, not a religious one, and I hope that people can feel the emotion of the great melodies, even without the words.

Kenny G

#8. I really create everything I do from the heart.

Kenny G

#9. I think everybody has to kind of decide what the word 'jazz' means to them, and that's fine.

Kenny G

#10. I practice my saxophone three hours a day. I'm not saying I'm particularly special, but if you do something three hours a day for forty years, you get pretty good at it.

Kenny G

#11. It wasn't until Duotones that I felt my true voice come out.

Kenny G

#12. If you go to Tiananmen Square, or go to any public area in China, you will hear my music at some point.

Kenny G

#13. The Moment is an album that contains the best music I have ever produced.

Kenny G

#14. I started realizing that music is the one area where I've always let go. When that saxophone goes into my mouth, I get into a space where I never think about the notes I've already played or anticipate the notes ahead.

Kenny G

#15. It's important to let each artist do what makes him or her feel comfortable. Success should be a by-product of that.

Kenny G

#16. That's my ideal day, time with my boys.

Kenny G

#17. Just because people play songs with great technique doesn't mean the records are better.

Kenny G

#18. With the sax, I learned technique well enough so that it feels like part of my body, and I just express myself. That's where I want to get in golf.

Kenny G

#19. There are a few countries that, for whatever reason, really enjoy listening to my music.

Kenny G

#20. I'm just more into playing golf. It's a great thing.

Kenny G

#21. I listen to old jazz and classical music, and that's it.

Kenny G

#22. You can't just walk away when somebody recognizes you. You have to take some time out and talk to them. It's not a waste of time - I just love talking to people. And I don't do this to sell records. The truth is, I do what I do because I love it.

Kenny G

#23. I'm very serious about what I do. I practice every day for three hours. I work on my scales; I work on my tone. But otherwise, I like to have fun.

Kenny G

#24. Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I think the ordinary guy has just as much right to say 'This is a good song' as somebody who is in the music business.

Kenny G

#25. I'm responsive to my public, but I also follow my heart.

Kenny G

#26. I don't go to clubs. I don't know what club mixes are supposed to sound like.

Kenny G

#27. I just started as a part of the public school music program. I took lessons at the school every Friday and was a part of the school band. I was just a normal kid taking instrumental lessons at school, nothing special.

Kenny G

#28. I listen to all the top 20 songs, and top 20 albums, even the rap albums. But I don't like negative messages. If somebody is putting a lot of ego out there, I don't like it. When I make my records I want it to be sincere.

Kenny G

#29. I learned so much about playing and touring being on the road and in the studio with Jeff, but I'd always played a lot of gigs in Seattle even prior to joining the Fusion.

Kenny G

#30. What is music anyway? It's a form of communication, and that's why I play the kind of music that I think - that I hope - can communicate with people.

Kenny G

#31. I live my life and play my music, and I don't really seek out other people's approval or accolades or things like that. I try to do what's true to me, and how it all comes out is fine.

Kenny G

#32. Unless I've got Katy Perry on the cover of my CD, it's going to be tough to sell a lot of records.

Kenny G

#33. Grover Washington was my main influence, and when I went to college, I started listening to more of the jazz masters like Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, and John Coltrane.

Kenny G

#34. The criticism is that it's too simple, but my feeling is it's more of a challenge making someone feel an emotion in four notes than in 25 notes.

Kenny G

#35. I don't play the traditional Charlie Parker songs. But I do improvise and I do create with my instrument, and that to me is jazz. But there are people who use the word 'jazz' only in a traditional sense, and they would be offended by that, and that's fine.

Kenny G

#36. Maybe the biggest thing that I've learned musically is that anything is possible. Things can work when maybe they don't seem like they can.

Kenny G

#37. I've learned that you simply can't control those bad vibes.

Kenny G

#38. I approach everything in my life the same way; if it feels right, I know it.

Kenny G

#39. I've been performing since I was in high school, so I've seen people react to my music and my playing. I'm always appreciative when people like the music, but I'm not shocked.

Kenny G

#40. The whole rise of new adult contemporary music and smooth jazz was a nice surprise.

Kenny G

#41. Generally, I like Indian music because the melodies are usually not too complex, which is how I like music, and that's the way I write music.

Kenny G

#42. I've never personally criticized anyone else's music, but I know that the public's real problem is not the music I make but the perception that I play simple music for money only and for the notoriety and to increase my popularity.

Kenny G