''Classics in the Key of G'' is the first cover album and ninth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by
saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
Kenny G
Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selli ...
. It was released by
Arista Records
Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
on June 28,
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
, and reached number 1 on the Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, number 13 on the Internet Albums chart, number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 27 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.Charts & Awardsat
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...
) (
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...
,
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...
,
Hal David
Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick.
Early life
David was born and raised in New ...
) - 5:32
# "
What a Wonderful World
"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong on August 16, 1967. In April 1968, it topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed p ...
" (Lead vocal:
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
) (
George David Weiss
George David Weiss (April 9, 1921 – August 23, 2010) was an American songwriter and arranger, who was a president of the Songwriters Guild of America.
He is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Biography
Weiss was born in a Jewish f ...
Desafinado
"Desafinado" (a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as "Out of Tune", or as "Off Key") is a 1959 bossa nova song and jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics (in Portuguese) by Newton Mendonça.
Background
"Des ...
" (
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...
, Newton Mendonça) - 5:52
# "
In a Sentimental Mood
"In a Sentimental Mood" is a jazz composition by Duke Ellington. He composed the piece in 1935 and recorded it with his orchestra during the same year. Lyrics were written by Manny Kurtz; Ellington's manager Irving Mills gave himself a percen ...
" (
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
Irving Mills
Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 18, 1894 Odessa, Ukraine – April 21, 1985) was a music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz promoter. He often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose.
Personal life
Mills ...
) - 4:56
# "
The Girl from Ipanema
"Garota de Ipanema" (), or "The Girl from Ipanema", is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim a ...
" (Lead vocal:
Bebel Gilberto
Isabel Buarque de Hollanda Gilberto de Oliveira (born May 12, 1966), known as Bebel Gilberto, is an American-born Brazilian people, Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miú ...
) (Antonio Carlos Jobim,
Norman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist and songwriter of popular songs and themes to television shows and films. He wrote the lyrics for songs including " Ready to Take a Chance Again" (with composer Cha ...
,
Vinícius de Moraes
Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed "O Poetinha" ("The Little Poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwrig ...
) - 4:17
# "
Stranger on the Shore
"Stranger on the Shore" is a piece for clarinet written by Acker Bilk for his young daughter and originally named "Jenny" after her. The tune was written on a single scrap of paper by Bilk and handed over to arranger Leon Young who crafted the ...
" (
Acker Bilk
Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was an English clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistco ...
Edward Heyman
Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul", " When I Fall in Love", and " For Sentimental Reasons". He also contributed to a number of songs for films.
Bi ...
,
Frank Eyton
Frank Eyton (30 August 1894 – 11 November 1962) was an English popular music lyricist best known for co-writing the lyrics of Johnny Green's " Body and Soul" (1930) with Edward Heyman and Robert Sour. Frank Eyton biographyat Allmusic - retrieve ...
,
Johnny Green
John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his ear ...
,
Robert Sour
Robert Sour (1905 – 1985) ''The New York Times'', March 8, 1985. was a
Bernie Hanighen
Bernard D. Hanighen (April 27, 1908 in Omaha, Nebraska – October 19, 1976 in New York City, New York) was an American songwriter and record producer, best known for " When a Woman Loves a Man", and writing lyrics to the jazz composition " 'Ro ...
, Cootie Williams,
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...
) - 6:26
# "
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow", also known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg. It was written for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'', in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role ...
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...
/ Antonio Carlos Jobim, Norman Gimbel, Vinícius de Moraes) - 7:49
Greg Phillinganes
Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...
–
Fender Rhodes
The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...
(1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9)
*
Randy Waldman
Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. He has frequently collaborated with Barbra Streisand, serving as her pianist and conductor since 1984. Waldman has ...
– acoustic piano (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9)
*
David Foster
David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...
Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter. He was a frequent collaborator of Mariah Carey on her first six studio albums. Af ...
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...
– guitar (1), guitar intro (1)
*
Dean Parks
Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Parks has one Grammy nomination.
Albums
Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los A ...
– acoustic guitar (4)
*
Nathan East
Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass guitarist and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts ...
– bass (1, 2, 4, 5, 8)
*
Ricky Lawson
William Riser III (November 8, 1954 – December 23, 2013), better known as Ricky Lawson or Ricky Remo, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stev ...
Paulinho da Costa
Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...
– percussion (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9)
* Jeremy Lubbock – orchestration and conductor (1, 9)
* Jules Chakin – orchestra contractor (1, 9))
* William Ross – orchestration and conductor (2-8, 10)
* Patti Zimmitti – orchestra contractor (2-8, 10)
Production
* Kenny G – producer and arrangements
* Walter Afanasieff – producer and arrangements (1, 2, 4-10)
* David Foster – producer and arrangements (3)
*
Humberto Gatica
Humberto Gatica is a Chilean and American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Cher and Michael Bublé. Gatic ...
Vlado Meller
Vlado Meller (born in 1947 in Humenné as ''Vladimír Meller'') is a Slovak audio mastering engineer, currently with Vlado Meller Mastering in Charleston, South Carolina. Meller works across many genres of music, with credits on rock, hip-hop, p ...
– mastering at
Sony Music Studios
Sony Music Studios was an American music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The five-story building was a music and broadcasting complex located at 460 W. 54th Street, at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhat ...
(New York, NY)
* Margery Greenspan – art direction
* Jemal Pugh – design
* Jeff Schultz – design
* Lyndie Benson – photography
* William Claxton – photography
* Cory Felman – stylist
* Dennis Turner – management for Turner Management Group, Inc.
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
Reception
The third track features G's music
overdub
Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...
bed on
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
's original recording, a move that was criticized by musicians such as
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...
and Richard Thompson,"I agree with Pat Metheny" video /ref> who were angered by what they perceived as arrogance on G's part to use a song by Louis Armstrong for personal gain. Additionally, some versions of the insert booklet of the Arista CD contained an error, attributing the writing of The Look of Love to Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, instead of the correct songwriters, Bacharach and David.