I was not in any way a fan before I read this, so I’m surprised to say I learned a lot from him, and not just in the career and life details. G has had to deal with a lot of hostility over the years, and it’s inspiring to hear how he’s managed to deal with it. Some of his life lessons may be corny: “Whenever I tried to sound like someone else, I ended up sounding like me.” But they’re no less true for that.

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing, NetGalley for a digital copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I knew nothing about Kenny G other than he was hot on the Adult Contemporary radio station I listened to and later worked for. Had no idea what his real name was, always wondered why he had a straight sax when my brother’s experience with that instrument had a traditional curved soprano sax. I was of a certain age when Miracles came out, the ever-loving holiday album that became a HUGE success.

I had no idea that Kenny G’s CDs were sold at Starbucks because our city was late to the Starbucks game, and that years after a successful partnership with Clive Davis’ Arista Records, Kenny had an exclusive deal with the coffee chain to produce and distribute his music. Wild.

This was a quick read, and I came away with some thoughts: 1) Kenny G is no writer, even with help, 2) this rather conversational tone works and makes it a quick and easy read, 3) Kenny sounds like he can be a real jerk if things aren’t done his way because of his perfectionism, 4) the hundreds of thousands of hours of practice come through in his recordings, 5) he’s got a lot of celebrity stories, 6) I don’t care how much he loves golf and who he golfed with–it shouldn’t take up a whole chapter, and 7) no matter how much Kenny G talks about the influence of great R&B, soul, and old-school jazz greats, his style of jazz fusion does not translate.

I you’re a fan of celebrity memoir, you might enjoy this book.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. This is a fun breezy memoir written by Kenny G. He talks about his musical development and his career as a star saxophone player.The memoir has lots of anecdotes about his early career and training. He he does include some personal information about growing up and a little about his sons.Most of the book is about his music.I enjoyed it very much. It was a well written fun book.

I selected this book knowing vaguely who Kenny was, but the honesty he writes with makes me a Kenny G fan forever. I spent much of last night reading this book. There wasn't a dull moment in all that time.