At Last... The Duets Album by Kenny G: Smooth Jazz CD Review
by Lee Dennis, a.k.a. SmoothLee
Kenny G, the smooth jazz icon saxophonist for almost 20
years now, has
released his first all guest star CD entitled At Last...The Duets Album.
This release finds the smooth jazz saxophone superstar paired with vocal giants
ranging from Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, and Chaka Khan to pop stars
including LeAnn Rimes, Daryl Hall, Richard Marx,
Brian McKnight, and Earth, Wind and Fire just to name a few.
Click to hear MP3
samples of each song on At Last...
The Duets Album by Kenny G.
He also enlisted some instrumental industry heavyweights
to pitch in as well. Including trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, saxophonist
David Sanborn, pianist David Benoit, and the legendary composer Burt Bacharach.
The CD formula largely works,
coming off as a breezy, laid back concert with G
adding soft asides to his guest's vocal performances.
On track 7 Brian McKnight delivers a very nice
rendition of Careless Whispers, and on what could be the highlight of the
collection, track 5, Chaka Khan actually betters Christina Aguilera's already
outstanding Beautiful. Making it her very own as only she can.
Another very good song is track 6, Pick Up The
Pieces on which G teams up with fellow sax smooth jazz Hall of Famer David
Sanborn. The pairing of the two saxophone legends leads to a very intriguing
sound combination.
I give At Last... The Duets Album my highest recommendation. It just plain
belongs in any serious music collectors collection regardless of genre
preference.
One of the refreshingly
nice things about this CD is the way all of the participating artists seem to be
really enjoying themselves. Combine that with the overall presentation and
you've got one of Kenny G's
most impressive releases ever.
While this entire CD is outstanding the truly
standout tunes and SmoothJazz247.com favorites are Don't Know Why [track 2],
Pick Up The Pieces [track 6],
and Baby Come To Me [track 9]. My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore
[...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 7, Careless Whisper. Very nice!
Release Notes:
Kenny G originally released At Last... The
Duets Album on November 23, 2004 on the Arista record label.
CD track list follows:
1. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You-
featuring LeAnn Rimes
2. Don't Know Why- featuring David Benoit
3. I Believe I Can Fly- featuring Yolanda Adams
4. At Last- featuring Arturo Sandoval
5. Beautiful- featuring Chaka Khan
6. Pick Up The Pieces- featuring David Sanborn
7. Careless Whisper- featuring Brian McKnight
8. Misty- featuring Gladys Knight
9. Baby Come To Me- featuring Daryl Hall
10. The Way You Move- featuring Earth Wind & Fire
11. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word- featuring Richard Marx
12. Alfie- featuring Burt Bacharach
13. XThe Music That Makes Me Dance- featuring Barbra Streisand
To listen to samples of each song on At Last...
The Duets Album by Kenny G go to: Kenny
G CD - At Last... The Duets Album Samples
Lee Dennis, a.k.a. "SmoothLee" is an AVID music fan, smooth jazz in particular, and in addition to writing CD Reviews for
I Love Smooth Jazz.com
can also be heard during his
radio show which airs daily online at Smooth Jazz 24/7
Copyright 2006 - Lee Dennis. All Rights
Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article on your
website, blog, newsletter, or magazine as long as you leave all of the links
active, do not edit the article in any way, and give proper author name credit.
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