"This is not the Kenny G you are looking for"

To me Kenny Goldsmith is like the Barry white of poets. His voice is soothing and rather enjoyable to listen to. Due to his gentle tone and softly spoken words, his readings have very hypnotic qualities. I recently interviewed him via email (interview featured on earlier blog post). When I asked him about the effects of his voice on the success of his work, this s what he had to say; “I use it as a kind of a weapon, seductive but saying repulsive and dull things at the same time”. His radio DJ name is Kenny Go and he was once asked in an interview if he ever got confused with the famous saxophone player. It turned out that it happens quite a lot. Apparently, he gets emails from Kenny G fans telling him how much they love his music. Goldsmith doesn’t reply to any of the letters, but he does read them aloud on his show. On the link below there are some examples of the letters that he receives. He is very inspired by music and he is known to sing on his show. I have only listened to snippets of this, but if you listen to the clip below you will see why (sorry Kenny).

I was once asked by a professor at my University if I was obsessed with Kenneth Goldsmith. To that I can only reply with; no, but I’m obsessed with Kenny G. Not as either the artist or the saxophonist but a hybrid of the two which I will soon create for all to experience. Watch this blog and it will soon be revealed.

One more thing. It is not a coincidence that the title of this post is similar to a famous Star Wars quote and also a quote from Kenneth Goldsmith in reference to his confused fan mail. “I never reply to them, for fear that word would get out among Kenny G fans that I wasn’t the Kenny G they were looking for”. I am a big fan of Star Wars and a self-confessed geek. I asked Kenneth if he liked Star Wars and he said no. I was gutted at first, but I’m getting over it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHqKHr66UsQ&ob=av2nm Kenny G Songbird video 

http://mediamogul.seas.upenn.edu/pennsound/authors/Goldsmith/Traffic/Kenneth-Goldsmith_Traffic_WFMU_Sept-2006.mp3 Kenneth Goldsmith mp3 - section of Traffic reading 

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/03/poetry/a-selection-of-the-kenny-g-letters Letters to Kenny 

http://mediamogul.seas.upenn.edu/pennsound/authors/Goldsmith/Theory/Kenneth-Goldsmith-Sings-Harry-Potter_07.07.18_WFMU.mp3 Goldsmith sings - this is really funny.