New Standards (Kenny G album) explained

New Standards
Type:studio
Artist:Kenny G
Cover:Kenny G - New Standards.jpeg
Alt:Kenny G seated, playing saxophone
Studio:Air Lyndhurst Hall
Language:English
Label:Concord Music Group
Producer:Kenny G
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New Standards is the eighteenth studio album by American soft jazz saxophonist Kenny G, released on December 3, 2021, through Concord.

Reception

Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Matt Collar writing that "Kenny G wryly inserts himself into the pantheon of American Popular Songbook composers performing and writing songs that feel as if they were written during the heyday of traditional pop in the '50s and '60s", featuring "hushed and intimate ballads with just enough R&B keyboard, bass, and guitar textures to keep things contemporary" that "capture[s] the sound of traditional pop". Sebastian Scotney of The Arts Desk rated this album 1 out of 5 stars, writing that Kenny G's improvisation shows "sameness" and this music is inferior to jazz giants like Stan Getz. In DownBeat, John McDonough gave New Standards 3 out of 5 stars, writing that this music has the "restful sensibility of the sound of" 1950s and 1960s jazz, continuing that "there is really nothing to dislike or deride about New Standards". Writing for PopMatters, Will Layman took the opportunity to listen to this album and watch the documentary Listening to Kenny G to discuss superficial art, characterizing this as "innocuous background music" and the album features "performances [that] are devoid of swing, polyrhythm, jazz harmony, communication among bandmates in the moment, the individual daring of improvisation, and interaction with music history".

Track listing

  1. "Emeline" (Kenny G and Sam Hirsh) – 3:40
  2. "Only You" (Walter Afanasieff, Kenny G, and Sam Hirsh) – 5:50
  3. "Paris by Night" (Afanasieff, Kenny G, and Hirsh) – 5:30
  4. "Rendezvous" (Afanasieff, Kenny G, and Hirsh) – 6:19
  5. "Legacy" (Kenny G and Randy Waldman) – 3:56
  6. "Anthem" (Kenny G and Hirsh) – 4:32
  7. "Blue Skies" (Kenny G and Waldman) – 4:48
  8. "Milestones" (Kenny G and Hirsh) – 4:42
  9. "Two of a Kind" (Kenny G) – 5:49
  10. "Moonlight" (Walter Afanasieff and Kenny G) – 6:00
  11. "Waltz in Blue" (Kenny G and Hirsh) – 5:18

Personnel

See also

External links

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