Brazilian Nights – Kenny G

Album: Brazilian Nights – Kenny G
Music: Universal
Rating: ***
Jazz/Easy Listening: Kenny G’s music tends to polarize people. There are some who won’t think twice about it being relegated to ideal background music (‘muzak’) that you can hear piped gently from any place from hushed dining rooms in a five star hotel to something that you’d hear in an elevator.And then there are other people who probably for the same reason, will pop in a CD at the end of a workday and relax to its soothing strains.
While the music sounds languid and placid, His fourteenth studio album has a decidedly bossa nova feel. His version of Cannonball Adderley’s Quiet Nights is on the money, while Paul Desmond and Stan Getz tunes also get a musical homage. The opening melodious sounds of Bossa Antigua sets the mood for the mixture of classics and Kenny G originals that follow. Kenny has penned half the album’s tracks with Walter Afanasieff who also plays alto, tenor and soprano sax. He shines on cuts like Bossa Réal and the pulsing and gentle rhythmic sway of April Rain. Of course, his playing also gives the title cut it’s flair and subtle charm. Girl From Ipanema is a jazz chestnut. G-Bop and Loving You are both live cuts and also make the grade. Forever In Love and Heart And Soul feature both hushed parts as well as grand, bossa nova rhythms in parts.
All in all, a fitting cap to the album.