Pat Metheny on Kenny G: “He, in one move, through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, shit all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that Louis Armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician.”
Richard Thompson agrees. (via David)
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Meta
OK. So, we all know Mr. G is lighter than helium, both in his “music” and his loafers; but who the fuck is Pat Metheny???
Beats me!
keny g is a bullshit of mainstream, lighter than helium, your’re right, but listen to p. metheny some more…so far, please, some more..
friendly, dog breath from fabrice.
Are you the same fabrice who…? Oh, never mind.
Metheny is one of the most amazing guitarists of the last fifty years. He’s had a few pieces that were light enough in mood to be picked up by the mainstream and have people mis-interpret him as a jazz-pop or jazz-light artist. Anybody who thinks that’s true needs to listen to Offramp, Zero Tollerance For Silence, or Song X. Excellent work, and easily one of the best live performers I’ve ever seen (four times). He definately shares FZ’s attitude that meter and beat should fit the melody rather than the other way round.
I found this very disturbing. Pat doesn’t even realize that and Kenny G are in two different businesses. They only have the Weather Channel in common. He could just as well be criticizing Brittany Spears for singing out of tune.
He also believes that he and other self-appointed jazzers own the exclusive rights to classic jazz tunes. I was reading on to find out what Kenny G did to Pat himself. If corny music upsets him this much, he might as well put a gun to his head right now.
Kenny G has probably sold 100 times the records that Pat has in the last 15 years and that is what upsets him the most. In my opinion, Pat last two records weren’t worth the plastic they were burned into.
I guess, as a guitar builder, I could criticize him for using old strings or getting big bucks for endorsing Ibanez Guitars while always playing a 40 year old Gibson. I just don’t feel the need to do that.
Matt
This war is as old as the pop music market is. I will try to explain the problem with an example:
If you buy a car you have the choice between a DaimlerChrysler or a Toyota. The Toyota is based on old but reliable Daimler Technique, whereas the DaimlerChrysler is the product of years of research and technical development. The Toyota is very cheap, the Daimler very expensive.
What I think is, that people who really want to understand, what music they should listen to, will understand. If you want to be inspired by Kenny G., you probably don’t have a clue what music is all about. But in this case it doesn’t matter whether you listen to Kenny G. or to Pat Metheny: you wouldn’t hear the difference anyway!
I totally agree with Pat Metheny.
Just a brief comment:
Jazz itself did to Western Music what Kenny G is doing to Jazz…I am a composer…of course it enrages me to see such idiotic demagogues destroy the musical consciousness of millions of people, but I am equally uneasy about jazz in general.
It is after all a formulaic artform and regardless of the degree of complexity, its artistic aim is always the same: familiarise the listener with the formula…then surprise him or comfort him depending on the market you are targeting…of course there are genial exceptions, but they can’t really justify the existence of the rule to me.
I hope I am not rude…
I totally agree with Pat Metheny.
Just a brief comment:
Jazz itself did to Western Music what Kenny G is doing to Jazz…I am a composer…of course it enrages me to see such idiotic demagogues destroy the musical consciousness of millions of people, but I am equally uneasy about jazz in general.
It is after all a formulaic artform and regardless of the degree of complexity, its artistic aim is always the same: familiarise the listener with the formula…then surprise him or comfort him depending on the market you are targeting…of course there are genial exceptions, but they can’t really justify the existence of the rule to me.
I hope I am not rude…
Jazz is the heroin of all music. It’s so addictive once one begins to really get inside and play.
Brittany [sic] singing out of tune or Pat playing an old Gibson is hardly comparable to defacing one of the sacred creations of the virtual creator of THE ONLY AMERICAN MUSICAL ART FORM IN EXISTENCE. Face it folks, Pat’s right, and to my mind, he was downright congenial about it. Kenny G can suck ass all he wants, but the Armstrong Incident is something else altogether. I know ‘true artists’ huff over the unapproachable commercial success of Thmoas Kinkade and his squeezably soft ‘portraits of light’, and more power to both of them. But how would the art world react if he smeared his drivel all over the Mona Lisa and rammed it up the public’s ass as his ‘best new work’? I’m sure you must see my point; if you don’t, you probably think Kenny G’s just fine and dandy, and you deserve to own his records.