His fourth studio album, Duotonessold over 5 million copies in the U.S. At that time, he collaborated with Kashif on many tracks, such as the single "Love on the Rise" released in 1985 which went on to chart. He received success quite early on, with both G Force and Gravity, his second and third studio albums respectively, achieving platinum status in the United States. The album received warm reviews from critics. He released his first self-titled album with the help of The Jeff Lorber Fusion. Kenny G signed with Arista Records as a solo artist in 1982, after label president Clive Davis heard his rendition of ABBA's "Dancing Queen". 1980s: Early success and breakthrough with Duotones He began his solo career after his period with Lorber. He played with the funk band Cold, Bold and Together before becoming a credited member of The Jeff Lorber Fusion. He continued to play professionally while studying for a major in accounting at the University of Washington in Seattle and graduated magna cum laude. Kenny G's career started with a job as a sideman for Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973 while 17 and still in high school. He has been a fan of the sport since his older brother, Brian Gorelick, introduced him to it when he was ten. He was also on his high school golf team. In addition to his studies while in high school, he took private lessons on the saxophone and clarinet from Johnny Jessen, once a week for a year. His Franklin High School classmate Robert Damper (piano, keyboards) plays in his band. When he entered high school, he failed on his first try to get into the jazz band, but tried again the following year and earned first chair. Kenny G attended Whitworth Elementary School, Sharples Junior High School, Franklin High School, and the University of Washington, all in his home town of Seattle.
He started playing the saxophone in 1966 when he was 10 years old his first saxophone being a Buffet Crampon alto. He came into contact with the saxophone when he heard a performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington, to Jewish parents (his mother was originally from Saskatchewan, Canada) and grew up in the city's Seward Park neighborhood, which is a center of the city's Jewish community.
There's nothing even remotely tasteful about interchangeable tunes like "Sentimental," "Forever In Love" and "End of the Night," all of which are about as bloodless and schlocky as it gets. And Breathless isn't bad because it's a pop album or because it's commercial it's bad because of its complete lack of soul, substance or creativity. True, it was silly for jazz artists to judge Kenny by hard bop standards when hard bop (or even soul-jazz or fusion) was a long way from what he was going for.
Kenny G's huge following responded that the attacks were silly and misguided because the saxman was the first to admit that he was primarily a pop instrumentalist and wasn't pretending to be anything else. Throughout the 1990s, Kenny G was the whipping boy of the jazz world - the instrumentalist who hardcore jazz improvisers loved to bash when the subject of smooth jazz came up.