“Songbird”. It was only 35 years ago that Kenny G were on everyone’s ears with this song. Exactly in the year when Paul Simon brought African music to western pop culture with “Graceland”.
Kenny G didn’t say a word in “Songbird”, but “only” let his saxophone do the talking. It was the time when a saxophone was simply part of the good tone in almost every pop song. Kenny G is a master of his trade and the excursion into the world of pop hit parades was almost like a small industrial accident.
Because the now 65-year-old is more at home in jazz than in pop. Although you could call him a commuter between the musical worlds. On his new album „New Standards“ (Concord) shows Kenny G that the fascination for the saxophone can be explained. So you can relax comfortably on a couch and let the master take you with you to experience “Paris By Night” as well as the “Blue Skies” or the “Moonlight”. And whoever loved “Songbird” will find a worthy successor on this album in “Waltz In Blue”. Soothing music, almost ideal for an exciting time like the one we are currently experiencing.
Magnus Hesse is also not a louder when he is called Bayuk Makes music. In a calm, subtle way he gains access to the emotional center of those listeners who do not attach their openness to music to the volume. „Secrets Live“ (Monchique / Greenland) is the name of the EP with which Bayuk gave some songs from his second album “Exactly The Amount Of Steps From My Bed To Your Door” to a more intensive interpretation in a live studio session.
This shows the quality of a songwriter who, even as a musician, is currently able to give his songs so much soul that you can’t escape it at the other end. This is particularly successful in “Marty McFly”.
The term success is in the case of the „West Side Story“ almost an understatement. After all, it is one of the great musical classics in recent history. Can you revive a musical like this by remaking it? The answer to this question is: Yes, you can. Steven Spielberg has re-filmed Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s “West Side Story” and managed to make this decades-old musical sound very fresh again with its always up-to-date story. In any case, the soundtrack is a journey into the past, but it doesn’t sound outdated. This also testifies to the goodness of music when it can easily and easily survive six or seven decades and still have an effect.
Source: Nachrichten
