Listening to Kenny G

I admit I am a Miles and Trane fan, and go to live jazz in small clubs, at university music schools, in Australian cities, in Italy, in Prague.

I never thought of Kenny G music as Jazz. It was okay. I compare it to the standardisation of McDonalds burgers, not a real burger like in an Australian cafe, onions, pineapple, tomato.

But, after this documentary i can see the parallels to Miles in his career from the school band to commercial bands. In his dedication to practice. Still, not my kind of music, but i do not agree with people who rubbish him, as a person, or as a musician. Are they kidding ?

I am not a fan or a hater, just expected sth more from this documentary ,than an advertisement of his new album.

Very nice story about his background, his practice etc.

I have to applaud the docu for showing both sides equally. Not one side of the opinions is favoured, and it very much shows a leveled debate.

But do I think its a interesting docu? Kinda? Well the subject matter is rich, and I did learn a thing or two. I wouldn't say I was fully invested in the whole story.

Then again, the docu has some interesting people. So I think the interesting part of this docu lies more in the people rather than the subject. Especially KG, who is a very likable personality.

So all in all, one of the better docu's I've seen.

7/10: yes, pretty good.

An informative documentary about Kenny G and most importantly why some people hate Kenny G. And It does a great job balancing and showing both argument. Much like what he said in the start of the documentary, a lot of people recognize his music but not him. And here we get a sense of who he is as a person. He's likeable and humorous and it makes all of his music felt more genuine instead of just a money making scheme. Although I was quite disappointed because by the end the question of whether his music qualifies as Jazz is sort of unanswered and rather dismissed it was still an informative, well made and sometimes funny documentary.

Similar to Feels Good Man (another terrific doc), Listening to Kenny G is a colorful and informative documentary that gifts its viewers a hilarious character study (the polarizing Kenny G turns out to be a pretty fascinating guy; i personally think he's a reptile, but you can make the argument that he's an alien) and a digestable yet thorough-enough history of its subject matter (the world of soft jazz- its critics and its supporters). Love the thought provoking dialogue in this on the subjectivity of art. Very well made documentary on HBO Max, looking forward to what Penny Lane directs in the future.