# Did Kenny G respond to Pat Metheny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746 "2012-03-04T20:58:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/1 "2012-03-04T20:58:56Z")
I’m not sure when, but Pat Metheny penned a [pretty harsh takedown](http://www.jazzoasis.com/methenyonkennyg.htm) of Kenny G. Did Mr. G ever respond? Acknowledge it? I can see a simple response of photographing himself Scrooge McDucking in a pile of cash, but I’d be interested if there was anything more. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/2 "2012-03-04T22:20:14Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I’m not sure when, but Pat Metheny penned a [pretty harsh takedown](http://www.jazzoasis.com/methenyonkennyg.htm) of Kenny G. Did Mr. G ever respond? Acknowledge it? I can see a simple response of photographing himself Scrooge McDucking in a pile of cash, but I’d be interested if there was anything more. I think he probably thought it better to keep his head down. [Especially when Richard Thompson joined in.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucgZQGPZOpk)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/3 "2012-03-04T22:38:48Z")
I figured surely there must be some retort somewhere so I started a search on “Kenny G Pat Metheny” and was plowing through the articles (pages of them) when I found [this one by Mike Zwerin.](http://www.culturekiosque.com/jazz/portrait/rhekenny.html) I stopped looking. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/4 "2012-03-05T10:16:57Z")
[Here’s an interview with Kenny G from 2008.](http://www.readthehook.com/82274/culture-music-suit-himself-kenny-g-likes-kenny-g-just-fine) > [@](#): > > I was disappointed that he chose that route, but it was meaningless to me– I do what I do, and if I like it, that’s good enough. I can tell you this– I’ve never heard anybody in the world say that they didn’t like that arrangement. Everyone says it’s one of their favorite things I’ve ever done. “that arrangement” referring to his overdub on Louis Armstrong. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/5 "2012-03-05T12:38:35Z")
“Everyone says it’s one of their favorite things I’ve ever done.” - Sounds like damning with faint praise, to me. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/6 "2012-03-05T14:53:48Z")
I never heard of an explicit rebuttal from the G-meister, nor would I expect to - what could he say against someone as respected as Metheny (or Thompson for that matter)? At best he could act like he is laughing all the way to the bank - which he is. Is that cold comfort to the artist in his soul? To be the Thomas Kinkade of the music world? Seems like they made their choices long ago… ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/7 "2012-03-05T15:22:59Z")
Metheny and Thompson are just jealous because Kenny G got to appear in a Kate Perry video and they haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/8 "2012-03-05T15:33:13Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Metheny and Thompson are just jealous because Kenny G got to appear in a Kate Perry video and they haven’t. Exactly. Who wouldn’t be? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/9 "2012-03-05T19:18:43Z")
I’d certainly like to appear in Katy Perry. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/10 "2012-03-05T19:27:09Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I’d certainly like to appear in Katy Perry. Don’t think we didn’t see what you did there…😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/11 "2012-03-05T19:51:18Z")
🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/12 "2012-03-05T21:15:40Z")
I know naught of Jazz and never heard of Metheny, but I love how in an essay that sounds almost entirely like a snooty classical music scholar referring to his most hated rap artist, he throws in “spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, fucked up playing all over one of the great Louis’s tracks.” +1 to this man. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/13 "2012-03-05T21:27:33Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I figured surely there must be some retort somewhere so I started a search on “Kenny G Pat Metheny” and was plowing through the articles (pages of them) when I found [this one by Mike Zwerin.](http://www.culturekiosque.com/jazz/portrait/rhekenny.html) I stopped looking. That was hilarious. I can’t tell, though, whether it’s based on an interview or something, or if he was just making it up as a way to explain how he sees Kenny G. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/14 "2012-03-06T03:01:03Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I figured surely there must be some retort somewhere so I started a search on “Kenny G Pat Metheny” and was plowing through the articles (pages of them) when I found [this one by Mike Zwerin.](http://www.culturekiosque.com/jazz/portrait/rhekenny.html) I stopped looking. It’s articles like this that make me want to like Kenny G. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/15 "2012-03-06T11:47:49Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > It’s articles like this that make me want to like Kenny G. What? Why? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/16 "2012-03-06T15:19:57Z")
Speaking as a middle-aged married white guy who prefers classic rock and has little use for either Pat Metheny or Kenny G but has seen both of them in concert because my wife likes them… Pat Metheny is definitely a better musician than Kenny G (and his rhythm section, Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez, is absolutely stellar). But you know what? Metheny is on VERY shaky ground attacking Kenny G, because Metheny’s fans and Kenny’s overlap tremendously! Seriously, if I’d taken a survey at the Kenny G concert I attended, and asked all the MILFs who squealed and screamed for Kenny to name their other favorite musical artists, I have ZERO doubt they’d all have said “David Sanborn and Pat Metheny” or “Sting and Pat Metheny” or “Jim Brickman and Pat Metheny.” Pat Metheny may want to believe there’s a world of difference between his music and Kenny G’s, but guess what? Their fans DONT see such a vast gap! Their fans regard BOTH as pleasant, mellow mood music. I mean, I DO respect Metheny’s talent, but he’s not exactly Sun Ra or Ornette Coleman, challenging audiences with complicated rhythms, off-the-wall sound effects or elaborate improvisations! As for Metheny’s essay slamming Kenny G, it’s worth asking, “What brought this on?” Metheny CLAIMS that, he was willing to overlook Kenny’s popular brand of mellow sax noodling, but could no longer remain silent after Kenny desecrated Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World.” Huh? Come on now! It’s not as if Kenny G took a classic piece of jazz and turned it into mellow pap. It was ALREADY mellow pap when Kenny found it!!! “Wonderful World” was ALWAYS treacly fluff, and was therefore a perfect choice for a Kenny G cover. If Kenny had taken a Charlie Parker piece and turned it into fluff, a jazz purist would have a right to grumble. But Kenny’s reinvention of “Wonderful World” was no more saccharine than the original. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/17 "2012-03-06T15:41:20Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > What? Why? I can’t speak for Yookeroo, but I think all this criticism of KG sound like sour grapes. It’s like what Mickey Rooney once said ,“You’re as good as people think you are.” And the truth is that people like KG and he’s pretty happy with what he does. I read most of the Methaney piece and his commentary seemed pretty fair, but just kinda moot. It’s just like pop/rock bands complaining about Phil Collins or Cold Play and the simplicity of their very successful material. It may be true, but who cares? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/18 "2012-03-06T15:49:59Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Speaking as a middle-aged married white guy who prefers classic rock and has little use for either Pat Metheny or Kenny G but has seen both of them in concert because my wife likes them… > > Pat Metheny is definitely a better musician than Kenny G (and his rhythm section, Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez, is absolutely stellar). But you know what? Metheny is on VERY shaky ground attacking Kenny G, because Metheny’s fans and Kenny’s overlap tremendously! > > Seriously, if I’d taken a survey at the Kenny G concert I attended, and asked all the MILFs who squealed and screamed for Kenny to name their other favorite musical artists, I have ZERO doubt they’d all have said “David Sanborn and Pat Metheny” or “Sting and Pat Metheny” or “Jim Brickman and Pat Metheny.” Pat Metheny may want to believe there’s a world of difference between his music and Kenny G’s, but guess what? Their fans DONT see such a vast gap! Their fans regard BOTH as pleasant, mellow mood music. > > I mean, I DO respect Metheny’s talent, but he’s not exactly Sun Ra or Ornette Coleman, challenging audiences with complicated rhythms, off-the-wall sound effects or elaborate improvisations! > > As for Metheny’s essay slamming Kenny G, it’s worth asking, “What brought this on?” Metheny CLAIMS that, he was willing to overlook Kenny’s popular brand of mellow sax noodling, but could no longer remain silent after Kenny desecrated Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World.” > > Huh? Come on now! It’s not as if Kenny G took a classic piece of jazz and turned it into mellow pap. It was ALREADY mellow pap when Kenny found it!!! “Wonderful World” was ALWAYS treacly fluff, and was therefore a perfect choice for a Kenny G cover. If Kenny had taken a Charlie Parker piece and turned it into fluff, a jazz purist would have a right to grumble. But Kenny’s reinvention of “Wonderful World” was no more saccharine than the original. Basically, you’re saying of Metheny “me thinks he doth protest too much.” While, sure, there’s got to be a bit of bitterness or something that sparked Metheny, over and above Kenny G’s desecration of a respected-icon’s late-era softie tune - I wouldn’t go much further. While I recognize that jazz is this impossibly small world to outsiders, within it, some distinctions are pretty clear. And Pat Metheney, while he doesn’t go “outside” with challenging jazz as often as he used to (but please note that he did - he’s very capable of challenging jazz), is deeply respected - not quite the cultural icon of Wynton Marsalis, but up there. Kenny G, on the other hand, is generally considered a soft-jazz whore by most hardcore jazz heads. Many smooth-jazzers are quite talented - Chris Botti on trumpet, Julian Lage on guitar - but Kenny G isn’t even respected for his technique. But the point is that this POV was out there forever; I don’t know why Metheny picked this particular event to state that POV so plainly. Certainly Louis Armstrong is Zeus in the jazz pantheon, but the song was a late-era softie, and Kenny G had demonstrated he would trade self-respect and taste for a buck a long, long time ago… ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/19 "2012-03-06T15:50:54Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > I can’t speak for Yookeroo, but I think all this criticism of KG sound like sour grapes. I would add a dash of “Stop liking things I don’t like!!!” ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/20 "2012-03-06T16:10:52Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > I can’t speak for Yookeroo, but I think all this criticism of KG sound like sour grapes. It’s like what Mickey Rooney once said ,“You’re as good as people think you are.” And the truth is that people like KG and he’s pretty happy with what he does. I read most of the Methaney piece and his commentary seemed pretty fair, but just kinda moot. It’s just like pop/rock bands complaining about Phil Collins or Cold Play and the simplicity of their very successful material. It may be true, but who cares? I didn’t even see this. Not sure what to say - I mean, yep, I don’t begrudge working musicians becoming very successful because of their music. Jeez, more power to 'em. But, as a semi-pro musician and someone who has invested a lot in learning to listen to music and be discerning, there is a respect for craft and quality I have to acknowledge. I have no problem being happy for Phil Collins, nor do I have problem being frustrated about his pop pap vs. the wonderfully complex and thoughtful music he has been part of… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746.md?page=2)