Is there an a official cut off point, or date for when Kenny G transitions from redeemable 80s jazz-funkiteer to the Michael Bolton of jazz?
I'd say c. 1986.
He kinda realized the massive payday that going "Smooth" at the time would yield, and tweaked the sound into something like a Sade-lite, but without Sade and actually with the one BOLTON himself on some tracks instead.
I pause while you take that in.
But yo, fusk that hatters because IMHO Kenny knows a groove - a lot of the hatt comes purely from the money he made off making lamer funk, and lazy-ass folls thinking Kenny was the only person who'd ever played a saxophone. (I can't excuse the genuine folly of doing that duet with tapes of the late Louis Armstrong, but,like, not to Metheny levels).
When he had assumed his ultimate form, he had Bruce Carter from Pleasure on drums (Remembering to give his old NW buddies a gig) and Vail Johnson on bass, and they played their tails off. There is a concert he does with this band out there on the interwebs (it may even be at a Marina), and we are even blessed with the BOLTON manifesting on a track.
It's the one where they cut to candid interviews and Bolton and Kenny refer to themselves as "Guns and Noses".
Otherwise forgettable German comp with Marianne Rosenberg's "Wären Tränen aus Gold" which has a breakdown. Minting up on the Yankee Stadium Mongo a couple of months after finding one which I later discovered was rinked. Kingsmen's last album from '66. Ricardo has moody loops and samples.
Haven't thrown down in one of these in a while. I'd also be curious to hear the Skull Snaps story
Here's some of what's been pulled around my way...
The Herd - Lookin' Thru You (Fontana, 1968)
The Peppermint Trolley Co. - S/T (Acta, 1968)
BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface - Sour Soul (Lex, 2015)
Wanda Robinson - Black Ivory (Perception, 1971)
Blue Mountain Eagle - S/T (Atco, 1970)
Watson Beasley - S/T (Warner Brothers, 1980)
Ken Munson - Super Flute (Paramount, 1973)
Jesse Morrison - The Versatility Of Jesse Morrison (Abet, 1975)
Armageddon - S/T (Amos, 1969)
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Feelin' Bluesy (Soul, 1968)
Etta James - Sings Funk (Cadet, 1968)
Monk Montgomery - Reality (Philadelphia International, 1974)
Herbie Hancock - Fat Albert Rotunda (Warner Brothers, 1969)
Bobby Bryant - Swahili Strut (Cadet, 1971)
Unspoken Work - S/T (Atco, 1970)
Melting Pot - Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble (Ampex, 1970)
DJ Rashad - Double Cup (Hyperdub, 2013) 2Lp
Booker T. Jones - The Road To Memphis (Anti, 2011)
Roy Buchanan - S/T (Polydor, 1972)
Naughty By Nature - S/T (Tommy Boy, 1991)
White Fence - For The Recently Found Innocent (Drag City, 2014)
Ultimate Spinach - Behold & See (MGM, 1968)
Little Boy Blues - In The Woodland Of Weir (Fontana, 1968)
Mos Def - Black On Both Sides (Rawkus, 1998/2015 re-issue) 2lp
The Gary Burton Quartet - Lofty Fake Anagram (RCA, 1967)
Eddie Palmieri - Unfinished Masterpiece (Coco, 1975)
Dexter Wansel- Life On Mars (Philadelphia International, 1976)
Paul Humphrey - Me And My Drums (Standon, 1979)
Gal Costa - Caras & Bocas (Philips, 1979)
Dorothy Ashby - The Best Of (Prestige, 1972)
Tyrone Davis - I Had It All the Time (Dakar, 1972)
Mel & Tim - Good Guys Only Wind In The Movies (Bamboo, 1969)
Buckingham Nicks - S/T (Polydor, 1973)
Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot (Def Jam, 2010) -- 2lp
D'Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah (RCA, 2015) -- 2lp
Fat Jon - Humanoid Erotica (Counterflow, 2001) -- 2lp
Ruckus Roboticus - Phantom Of The Disco (Dance Or Die, 2014) -- 2lp
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (Ruthless, 1988, 2007 re) -- 2lp
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (Death Row, 1993) -- 2lp
Dr. Dre - 2001 (Aftermath, 1999) -- 2lp
Madvillain - Madvillainy (Stones Throw, 2004) -- 2lp
Hanni El Khatib - Moonlight (Innovative Leisure, 2015)
Caribou - Andorra (Merge, 2007)
Caribou - Swim (Merge, 2010) -- 2lp
...and a few more.
Leon Ware - Musical Massage (Gordy, 1976)
Blackalicious - Nia (Quannum, 2000) 2lp
Caribou Vibration Ensemble - CVE Live 2011 (no label, 2015)
Bernard Wright - 'Nard (GRP, 1981)
The Originals - Game Called Love (Soul, 1974)
Shirley Scott - Hip Twist (Prestige, 1962)
Aretha Franklin - The Electrifying (Columbia, 1962)
Fred Hughes - Baby Boy (Brunswick, 1969)
The Hassles - Hour Of The Wolf (United Artists, 1968)
Allen Toussaint - Southern Nights (Reprise, 1975)
MC Paul Barman - It's Very Stimulating (Wordsound, 2000)
The Fourth Way - Werewolf (Harvest, 1970)
Griffin - S/T (Romar, 1972)
The J.B.'s - These Are The J.B.'s (Now Again, 2014)
Funk Inc. - S/T (Prestige, 1971)
Marva Whitney - Live and Lowdown At The Apollo (King, 1969)
Ice - S/T (Prestige, 1974)
Barbara Lewis - Snap Your Fingers (Atlantic, 1964)
John Lee Hooker - The Great John Lee Hooker (Crown, 1963)
John Lee Hooker - Dusty Road (Bellaphon, 1973) -- 2lp
John Lee Hooker - Sittin' Here Thinkin' (Muse, 1979)
Robert Nighthawk - Bricks In My Pillow (Pearl, 1978)
Mississippi John Hurt - The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt (Vanguard, 1967)
The Fraternity Of Man - Get It On! (Bot, 1969)
The Hard Times - Blew Mind (World Pacific, 1967)
Beast - S/T (Evolution, 1970)
Hope - S/T (A&M, 1972)
The Serfs - The Early Bird Cafe (Capitol, 1969)
Jon Thomas - Heartbreak (ABC, 1960)
Eclection - S/T (Elektra, 1968)
Monk Higgins & The Specialties - Heavyweight (United Artists, 1972)
Tarantula - S/T (A&M, 1969)
Puff - S/T (MGM, 1968)
Happy to finally cross off Holocausto after first hearing about it five years ago.
And some finds from a week and a half ago. The top two came from a black dude at the thrift store that said he had some records and the bottom two came from Goodwill. Nice copies too.
To those who asked earlier in thread about where I'm located, I'm in Miami.
Comments
I'd say c. 1986.
He kinda realized the massive payday that going "Smooth" at the time would yield, and tweaked the sound into something like a Sade-lite, but without Sade and actually with the one BOLTON himself on some tracks instead.
I pause while you take that in.
But yo, fusk that hatters because IMHO Kenny knows a groove - a lot of the hatt comes purely from the money he made off making lamer funk, and lazy-ass folls thinking Kenny was the only person who'd ever played a saxophone. (I can't excuse the genuine folly of doing that duet with tapes of the late Louis Armstrong, but,like, not to Metheny levels).
When he had assumed his ultimate form, he had Bruce Carter from Pleasure on drums (Remembering to give his old NW buddies a gig) and Vail Johnson on bass, and they played their tails off. There is a concert he does with this band out there on the interwebs (it may even be at a Marina), and we are even blessed with the BOLTON manifesting on a track.
It's the one where they cut to candid interviews and Bolton and Kenny refer to themselves as "Guns and Noses".
And of course there are EPIC mullets in effect.
Otherwise forgettable German comp with Marianne Rosenberg's "Wären Tränen aus Gold" which has a breakdown. Minting up on the Yankee Stadium Mongo a couple of months after finding one which I later discovered was rinked. Kingsmen's last album from '66. Ricardo has moody loops and samples.
Here's some of what's been pulled around my way...
The Herd - Lookin' Thru You (Fontana, 1968)
The Peppermint Trolley Co. - S/T (Acta, 1968)
BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface - Sour Soul (Lex, 2015)
Wanda Robinson - Black Ivory (Perception, 1971)
Blue Mountain Eagle - S/T (Atco, 1970)
Watson Beasley - S/T (Warner Brothers, 1980)
Ken Munson - Super Flute (Paramount, 1973)
Jesse Morrison - The Versatility Of Jesse Morrison (Abet, 1975)
Armageddon - S/T (Amos, 1969)
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Feelin' Bluesy (Soul, 1968)
Etta James - Sings Funk (Cadet, 1968)
Monk Montgomery - Reality (Philadelphia International, 1974)
Herbie Hancock - Fat Albert Rotunda (Warner Brothers, 1969)
Bobby Bryant - Swahili Strut (Cadet, 1971)
Unspoken Work - S/T (Atco, 1970)
Melting Pot - Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble (Ampex, 1970)
DJ Rashad - Double Cup (Hyperdub, 2013) 2Lp
Booker T. Jones - The Road To Memphis (Anti, 2011)
Roy Buchanan - S/T (Polydor, 1972)
Naughty By Nature - S/T (Tommy Boy, 1991)
White Fence - For The Recently Found Innocent (Drag City, 2014)
Ultimate Spinach - Behold & See (MGM, 1968)
Little Boy Blues - In The Woodland Of Weir (Fontana, 1968)
Mos Def - Black On Both Sides (Rawkus, 1998/2015 re-issue) 2lp
The Gary Burton Quartet - Lofty Fake Anagram (RCA, 1967)
Eddie Palmieri - Unfinished Masterpiece (Coco, 1975)
Dexter Wansel- Life On Mars (Philadelphia International, 1976)
Paul Humphrey - Me And My Drums (Standon, 1979)
Gal Costa - Caras & Bocas (Philips, 1979)
Dorothy Ashby - The Best Of (Prestige, 1972)
Tyrone Davis - I Had It All the Time (Dakar, 1972)
Mel & Tim - Good Guys Only Wind In The Movies (Bamboo, 1969)
Buckingham Nicks - S/T (Polydor, 1973)
Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot (Def Jam, 2010) -- 2lp
D'Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah (RCA, 2015) -- 2lp
Fat Jon - Humanoid Erotica (Counterflow, 2001) -- 2lp
Ruckus Roboticus - Phantom Of The Disco (Dance Or Die, 2014) -- 2lp
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (Ruthless, 1988, 2007 re) -- 2lp
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (Death Row, 1993) -- 2lp
Dr. Dre - 2001 (Aftermath, 1999) -- 2lp
Madvillain - Madvillainy (Stones Throw, 2004) -- 2lp
Hanni El Khatib - Moonlight (Innovative Leisure, 2015)
Caribou - Andorra (Merge, 2007)
Caribou - Swim (Merge, 2010) -- 2lp
Leon Ware - Musical Massage (Gordy, 1976)
Blackalicious - Nia (Quannum, 2000) 2lp
Caribou Vibration Ensemble - CVE Live 2011 (no label, 2015)
Bernard Wright - 'Nard (GRP, 1981)
The Originals - Game Called Love (Soul, 1974)
Shirley Scott - Hip Twist (Prestige, 1962)
Aretha Franklin - The Electrifying (Columbia, 1962)
Fred Hughes - Baby Boy (Brunswick, 1969)
The Hassles - Hour Of The Wolf (United Artists, 1968)
Allen Toussaint - Southern Nights (Reprise, 1975)
MC Paul Barman - It's Very Stimulating (Wordsound, 2000)
The Fourth Way - Werewolf (Harvest, 1970)
Griffin - S/T (Romar, 1972)
The J.B.'s - These Are The J.B.'s (Now Again, 2014)
Funk Inc. - S/T (Prestige, 1971)
Marva Whitney - Live and Lowdown At The Apollo (King, 1969)
Ice - S/T (Prestige, 1974)
Barbara Lewis - Snap Your Fingers (Atlantic, 1964)
John Lee Hooker - The Great John Lee Hooker (Crown, 1963)
John Lee Hooker - Dusty Road (Bellaphon, 1973) -- 2lp
John Lee Hooker - Sittin' Here Thinkin' (Muse, 1979)
Robert Nighthawk - Bricks In My Pillow (Pearl, 1978)
Mississippi John Hurt - The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt (Vanguard, 1967)
The Fraternity Of Man - Get It On! (Bot, 1969)
The Hard Times - Blew Mind (World Pacific, 1967)
Beast - S/T (Evolution, 1970)
Hope - S/T (A&M, 1972)
The Serfs - The Early Bird Cafe (Capitol, 1969)
Jon Thomas - Heartbreak (ABC, 1960)
Eclection - S/T (Elektra, 1968)
Monk Higgins & The Specialties - Heavyweight (United Artists, 1972)
Tarantula - S/T (A&M, 1969)
Puff - S/T (MGM, 1968)
Ah yeah I guess I should mentioned not a goodwill find or anything. Saw it for $75 at a shop and grabbed it. Others were 5-10.
Happy to finally cross off Holocausto after first hearing about it five years ago.
And some finds from a week and a half ago. The top two came from a black dude at the thrift store that said he had some records and the bottom two came from Goodwill. Nice copies too.
To those who asked earlier in thread about where I'm located, I'm in Miami.