I Agree With Pat Metheny

I Agree With Pat Metheny
Richard Thompson

I agree with Pat Metheny
Kenny's talents are too teeny
He deserves the crap he's going to get
'Overdubbed himself on Louis
What a musical chop suey
Raised his head above the parapet

Now Louis Armstrong was the king
He practically invented swing
Hero of the twentieth century
'Did duets with many a fella
"Fatha" Hines, Bing, Hoagy, Ella
Strange he never thought of Kenny G

A meeting of great minds, how nice
Like Einstein and Sporty Spice
Digitally fused in an abortion
Oh, Kenny fans will doubtless rave
While Satchmo turns inside his grave
Soprano man's bit off more than his portion

Brainless pentatonic riffs
Display our Kenny's arcane gifts
But we don't care, his charms are so beguiling
He does play sharp, but let's be fair
He has such lovely crinkly hair
We hardly notice, we're too busy smiling

How does he hold those notes so long?
He must be a genius. Wrong!
He just has the mindlessness to do it
He makes Britney sound like scat
If this is jazz I'll eat my hat
An idle threat, I'll never have to chew it

So next time you're in a rendezvous
And Kenny's sound comes wafting through
Don't just wince, eliminate the cause
Rip the tape right off the muzak
Pull the plug, or steal a fuse, Jack
The whole room will drown you in applause

Yes, Kenny G has gone too far
The gloves are off, it's time to spar
Grab your hunting rifle, strap your colt on
It's open season on our Ken
Yet I await the moment when
We lay off him and start on Michael Bolton

Oh, I agree with Pat Metheny
Kenny's talents are too teeny

There's also an MP3 of him perfoming the song. Too funny!

His latest effort has already conquered the jazz world, debuting at Number One on the Contemporary and Current Overall Jazz Charts. http://www.voanews.com/english/Entertainment/2006-12-04-voa22.cfm
http://www.delafont.com/music_acts/Kenny-G.htm

On Dec. 1, 1997, Kenny G also set a Guinness World Record by holding the longest sustained musical note in history, an "F" flaton his soprano sax for a total of 45 minutes and 47 seconds.

Saxophonist Kenny G has more to brag about than his world-class horn-playing. He's now the best golfer among music-makers, according to Golf Digest's ranking of the "Top 100 in Music."

For much of jazz's history, the greatest players - those who devote their energy to understanding, then advancing, the music - have usually been able to lament their relatively low sales. Now, if they choose, they can also lament that many people think what Kenny G plays is jazz (and that if it sells well, it's obviously great).

However, I think Pat Metheny shot past the mark. I think Kenny G overdubbed on Louis Armstrong is tacky, but it made me sick to see how far Metheny went in criticizing him. (For that matter, I can't really see posthumous overdubs as anything other than novelty tracks, always in dubious taste. It puzzles me that Pat took this one so seriously.)

Same goes for the description of the Dead Kenny G's - I agree that this is reaching "unprecedented lows." Some players may take pleasure in this, but it's a base pleasure I don't wish to share. Vindictiveness is not a value I aspire to. (I'll cut Richard Thompson some slack because his purpose was humor, and the guy's an equal-opportunity mocker. Same principle applies, though.) I think the best rule here is "Live and let live," and the players I respect most just keep making their own music, not wasting energy with personal attacks.

At the same time, I'm sure Kenny can take the criticism. As the saying goes, he's probably crying all the way the the bank.

[This message was edited by Eric McEuen on 08 December 2006 at 10:19 AM.]

It was Clive Davis that pushed Kenny into the duet and the standards thing and wanted him to do it while keeping his signiture sound. I don't know if Kenny is bound by contract to Clive to put out albums when he say's and how, but it looks that way to me? From what I heard he didn't want to do those projects and tried to talk Clive out of it?

Pat made the mistake of going to a different country and telling a school of children not to buy any Kenny G albums or listen to his music, that's what crossed the line in my book.

Honestly, Frank Morgan is my main love on horn (hard core bop). Kenny G calls his stuff "Instrumental Pop". Kenny has a huge fan base world wide, but it's his fan base. Kenny G doesn't stop hard core jazzer's from selling albums, that's all on them just like the rest of us. I've admitted I play one of his songs (midnight motion) and I tried to study a book on him with note for note transcriptions and theory approaches. I can't play 10 measures of unending 32nd notes like him and gave up trying to. I do know horn players however and he's good at what he does. He's lucky to have his own sound and to have made some good dough at it in the process. Give it a rest already, gees...

[This message was edited by Jesse Pearson on 08 December 2006 at 02:00 PM.]

We're talking five years ago. I wonder if someone asks Pat about it today if he wouldn't reply with something along the lines like: "Oh, you're bringing THAT up? Hey, that's water LONG gone under the bridge."

I could be completely wrong about Metheny's current take on the thing, but some of the posts written on these threads are from the perspective that this is a fairly recent occurence.

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Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 08 December 2006 at 02:31 PM.]

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he's recorded both the best-selling instrumental album of all time and the best-selling holiday album of all time.

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I'm not sure that $$ sells should be a benchmark for the quality of music.

If you go by that logic then the Volkswagen Beetle should be the greatist car ever built, since it's the all time best-selling auto.

[This message was edited by Alvin Blaine on 08 December 2006 at 05:26 PM.]

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Yes, of course Metheny and others resent G's huge sales and popluarity. That's the whole point!

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That is entirely possible--might take about a month. But if she can hold a note for 45 minutes like Kenny G, now that would be praiseworthy!

Pat Metheny has had artistic and financial success--I doubt there are any 'sour grapes'. Jazz musicians are typically very critical and protective over jazz. Pat Metheny has caught his own flack for not playing what the establishment considers jazz. Rest assured, Pat Metheny can stand toe to toe with any of the greatest jazz guitarists who've ever lived. I've heard him in every context. I doubt highly one can say the same for Kenny G.

Any musician who goes out of his way to impose his negative waves on a large group of children concerning another successful musician is messed up. Any one who thinks that this is cool is just as messed up. This whole thing took place back in 2000.

Kenny's fan base probably don't know or care that he is in the record books for this and that. That's not why he has a big fan base world wide? In fact, I'd say he created his own sucessful genre(instrumental pop). Kenny learned how to comunicate to his fans in a way that touched them, most straight ahead jazzer's for the most part never get that part of it and that's why they don't sell very well.

I know he has sold 70 million albums, but of what?

You see, Kenny G. hasn't "defiled" anything done by Armstrong, nor by any other artist. Millions upon millions of Armstrong's original recording of this classic are still out here, pristine and pure.

Borrowing from, adding to, modifying in part or whole, are all accepted and acceptable practices in art. You (and I) may not like what Kenny G. did with "What a Wonderful World," but there are many thousands of examples of this practice in all aspects of art (not to mention science, engineering, politics, and whatever else you might come up with). Now, the better examples are probably more subtle than what Kenny G. apparently did, but this is hardly an isolated incident, and it defiles nothing. Offend the listener, perhaps, but it did nothing to harm the original work.

Consider this: There are certainly fans of Rodgers and Hammerstein who are incensed with what Coltrane did with "My Favourite Things," and who feel that the song has been "defiled." They would be wrong, as is Metheny.

Let´s face it. Kenny did only what many others also do -see rap and hip hop. Take an old famous song and play/sing over it. And they make money with this and are selling lots of records.

But here's what none of the these other artists have done including Pat or Mike Neer. Back in 1999 when Kenny came out with the duet of "what a wonderful world" he donated $250,000.00 to a music fund to help keep music in schools and donated all of the profits from the Armstrong duet to the fund, which I believe has surpased the million dollar mark a long time ago (Loui would have liked this because he dug kids and was into helping them). Neither Pat nor Mike Neer talk about this, wonder why?

[This message was edited by Jesse Pearson on 09 December 2006 at 09:31 PM.]

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There are certainly fans of Rodgers and Hammerstein who are incensed with what Coltrane did with "My Favourite Things," and who feel that the song has been "defiled."

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Jarret & Metheny are on a higher artistic plane than Kenny or George, but K & G aren't seeking to be that level. It doesn't mean they don't have a right to earn a living playing music, sell records, and express themselves. For the record, I hate K's treacle but admire much of GW's stuff - which is often very beautiful. The whole overdubbing over dead musicians thing is creepy but as Jesse says, it doesn't erase the original recording.

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 10 December 2006 at 06:31 AM.]

In an interview, Malcolm was played a bunch of various recordings, to each he responded "that's not rock and roll!".

Finally, the interviewer asked, "So, what IS rock and roll"?

Malcolm: "What we do."

I can't stand Kenny G either but Pat can be a bit of a weenie too. He told me (and a few other young guitarists who sat at his feet, no guitars allowed, for a 'lesson' at his apartment in 1977, before he hit the big time) "Most of you guys at Berklee are gonna wind up truck drivers".

"It's not enough to succeed...others must fail!!!!"

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, technique tips etc. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Instructional DVDs, books and more...

[This message was edited for spelling, Jesse, by John McGann on 10 December 2006 at 06:32 AM.]

For another example of the ultimate ivory tower, read the story of what happened to the poor guy who had the nerve to cough during Jarrett's solo:
http://skittlesmaze.blogspot.com/2006/11/jarretts-regime-of-phlegmy-fear-jazz.html

Have you ever had to cough during a concert? I sure have. All this from the guy who has audibly moaned and groaned in orgasmic ecstasy on every record he's ever released. Wonder if Buck Owens ever stopped his set when a beer bottle hit the stage. "Excuse me, pard, but creation is a fragile thing. C'mon Don, Tom, we're outta here!"

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 10 December 2006 at 07:47 AM.]

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Pat can be a bit of a weenie too. He told me (and a few other young guitarists who sat at his feet, no guitars allowed, for a 'lesson' at his apartment in 1977, before he hit the big time) "Most of you guys at Berklee are gonna wind up truck drivers".

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I have not had to get a truck driver's license yet...not like that would be the end of the world!

The 4th one- now, maybe he did...don't know what became of him...

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, technique tips etc. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Instructional DVDs, books and more...

[This message was edited by John McGann on 10 December 2006 at 08:00 AM.]

Glad I got 'lucky'!

[This message was edited by John McGann on 10 December 2006 at 09:22 AM.]

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As far as him getting nasty and personal with Kenny G, I don't think the attacks were personal beyond stating what type of soulless person he must be to contrive a duet with Louis Armstrong. The rest of the comments were directed at his playing ability

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Let's see, no soul and his music stinks! doesn't sound like there's much left to attack. If this isn't personal, what is?

[This message was edited by Andy Sandoval on 10 December 2006 at 10:51 AM.]

As far as the 'weenie' charge goes, if I were to charge 4 starving, eager young musicians for a group lesson, I think I might ask them to bring instruments, or at least share a few bits of wisdom relating to actual playing of music, rather than the 'music business' and why you are a bunch of idiots to be even trying...

Whether or not students become pro players or truck drivers, I think it's still great that people go out of their way to try and learn things, even when faced with ridiculous odds against them making a living at it...like playing actual instruments that require human skill when so much of the 'music business' is about sequencing, autotune, drum machines, turntables, belly buttons, piercings, the right torn jeans, hours at the gym, etc.

And that's as true as the truck driver metaphor. Anyone can be a cynic and call it a done deal, or fight the power!

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, technique tips etc. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Instructional DVDs, books and more...