Kenny "G"

Kenny was born in Seattle, Washington. His mother rented him his first saxophone, and he learned how to play staying home and practicing along with records (mostly of Grover Washington Jr.) trying to emulate the sounds that he was hearing. At Franklin High School (where he also lettered in golf) he played in the school band. Kenny's high school band director eventually got him his first professional job as sax soloist for a Barry White show - Barry White's Unlimited Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1976, when he adopted the moniker "Kenny G."

In 1981 Kenny G signed with Arista Records as a solo artist. He has released many solo albums and collaborated with various artists including Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole and Aretha Franklin. Influenced by the likes of Grover Washington, Jr., his own albums are usually classified as smooth jazz, though there are many in the music community who categorize his albums more as adult contemporary.
His entry into the smooth jazz market remains popular with the American buying public, although he has come under much fire from music critics and jazz devotées. As of 2003, Kenny G was named the 25th-highest selling artist in America by the RIAA, with 47.5 million albums sold in the USA. In 1994, Kenny G won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for Forever in Love.
In 1997, Kenny G earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing the longest note ever recorded on a saxophone. Kenny G held an E Flat for forty five minutes, forty seven seconds, a record he still officially holds. However, in 1998, a sax player by the name of Geovanny Escalante from Costa Rica claimed that he held an E Flat for ninety minutes, forty five seconds. This attempt is considered unofficial, as the Guinness Book of World Records judges were not present at the event, which is required for an official entry in the book.

With his warm and wonderous tone and texture, Kenny G is the gentleman of jazz. His saxophone takes us to places that quicken our senses and delight our imagination. As a teenaged member of Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra, Kenny learned about sensuality and seduction from a master, and ove the course of his spectacular career he’s sophisticated odes to romance, passions and spirituality. In the process he’s become the world’s best-selling instrumental and jazz musician.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_G , http://www.kennyg.com/