Album: Kenny G - New Standards

Saxophonist Kenny G knows exactly what buttons he needs to press to upset the jazz faithful. He is quoted as having said of his new album New Standards (Concord): “The jazz community is gonna hate it. And that doesn’t concern me.”

There is quite some history of antagonism here. Turn the clock back to 1999 and the album Classics in the Key of G, and we hear Seattle-born G, né Gorelick, playing over the classic Louis Armstrong recording of “What a Wonderful World”. Hackles were raised, to put it mildly. Guitarist Pat Metheny, for example, called it “a new low point in modern culture – something that we all should be totally embarrassed about – and afraid of.”
Now, in “New Standards” it’s déjà vu all over again: there is a track here called “Legacy featuring the ‘Sound’ of Stan Getz”, with "sample programming" credited to Jochem van der Saag, making use of “sample notes to create this brand new melody never before played by Stan.” Getz's heirs have authorised the sampling, and G expresses his thanks to “Monica, Bev and Nick and the Stan Getz Estate for their support in me writing and recording” it. Jazz writer Ted Gioia doesn't mince his words. He calls it “truly a Frankenstein conception.”

New Standards is released on 3 December 2021 on CD and streaming, and on double vinyl on 11 February 2022.