Kenny G has spent decades as one of the most recognizable saxophonists on the planet, and at this point he is very comfortable saying he is good at his job. Asked what keeps him going after roughly 60 years of playing, he jokes that the real perk is being genuinely excellent at making music. Behind the punchline is a veteran player who has turned relentless practice, a thick skin, and a surprisingly self-aware sense of humor into a long, still-evolving career.
His confidence is not bluster so much as the relaxed swagger of someone who has put in the hours and knows exactly what he can do. Now in his late sixties, he is still touring, recording and talking openly about how it feels to have a sound that millions recognize instantly, and that critics have argued about for just as long.
The joke that says he is serious
When Kenny G talks about his favorite part of making music, he does not reach for something lofty about inspiration or legacy. Instead, he leans into a deadpan line about how fun it is to be “really great” at it, a quip he has shared while looking back on roughly 60 years with a horn in his hands. The line lands because it is both a wink and a statement of fact, the kind of thing only someone with his track record can get away with. In recent conversations he has framed that confidence as the payoff for a lifetime of discipline, saying that the joy now comes from knowing he can execute exactly what he hears in his head in the studio or on stage.
That mix of humor and pride has been front and center in a recent round of interviews, where Kenny has described himself as feeling “confident” about where he is artistically. In a detailed profile he expands on that joke, explaining that the satisfaction now is less about chart positions and more about the internal standard he has set for himself over decades of recording and touring. The same conversation, shared as an Exclusive look at his routine and mindset, underlines that the punchline only works because he still treats every note like it matters.
Sixty years in, still chasing the perfect phrase
For all the jokes, Kenny G’s longevity is built on a work ethic that borders on obsessive. He has talked about practicing daily since he was a teenager, a habit that has not really eased up even as he has become a household name. In a longform conversation on The Great Creators, he walks through the early years of grinding through club gigs and studio sessions, describing how that repetition slowly turned into the smooth, vocal-like tone that listeners now recognize instantly. The way he tells it, the “really great” part is not innate talent so much as the result of thousands of hours spent ironing out every wobble in his sound.
That discipline has kept him active well into his late sixties. A recent birthday tribute marked “Happy Birthday” to saxophonist Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, noting that he turns 69 years old and is still out playing shows. In newer interviews he has framed his current phase as a kind of second wind, saying that after 60 years he is more interested in making music that feels “timeless” than in chasing trends. That perspective shows up in the way he talks about tone, phrasing and melody, all of which he treats as crafts that still have room for improvement.
Always in on the joke
Part of what makes Kenny G’s recent wisecracks land is that he has spent years proving he can laugh at himself. Long before social media turned him into a meme, he was already aware that his brand of smooth jazz divided opinion. In one profile, the writer notes that he has “always been in on the joke,” a point backed up by his own comments that, While everyone else argued about whether his records were good art, he was mostly unbothered. He has even pushed back on the idea that he is cynically chasing commercial success, insisting that he simply plays what he likes and lets the audience decide.
That self-awareness became a central theme of the documentary Listening to Kenny G, which is Directed by Penny Lane, known for projects like Nuts and Hail Satan. The film leans into the debate over what makes music good or bad, but it also shows Kenny G as a quietly competitive player who is very aware of his reputation and still determined to outplay it. A separate essay on the documentary describes Caption Options like “ironic masterpiece,” and lingers on scenes of him Returning to his old high school in Seattle, where Kenny signs a wall of fame with the same low-key charm he brings to interviews.
Critics, cool points and the Instagram age
For years, jazz purists lined up to take shots at Kenny G’s sound, but the culture has shifted enough that he now feels oddly hip again. A feature on his late-career resurgence notes that in the Instagram age, his image and instantly recognizable tone have turned into a kind of shorthand for a certain vibe, and he is “getting the last laugh.” In that piece he talks about his own listening habits, saying he loves traditional jazz and the way it is played, name-checking Stan Getz and Miles Davis and earlier eras of the music. That detail undercuts the idea that he is oblivious to jazz history; he simply chose a different lane.
He has also been candid about how he processes the constant commentary. In one interview he shrugs off the volume of criticism as the price of being prolific, a point he expands on in a video segment about how his sound has stayed consistent over time. Asked how he explains the durability of his style, he smiles and notes that having a huge catalog is “a good problem to have” because it means he never slowed down, a sentiment captured in a clip titled How Kenny G’s. Another video link, shared through a different embed of the same conversation, reinforces that idea by showing him talking through his practice routine and the way he still experiments with phrasing, as heard in Oct interview footage.
Owning the “really great” era
The current chapter of Kenny G’s career is defined by a kind of relaxed ownership of everything that came before. In a recent profile, the writer frames the story around the line that Kenny “Jokes His Favorite Part of Making Music Is Being” “Really Great” at “It After” all these “Years,” a phrase that has also been highlighted in an Exclusive preview of his comments. Another version of the same story, shared through a different link, repeats that Kenny “Jokes His Favorite Part of Making Music Is Being” “Really Great” at “It After” “Years,” underscoring how that one line has become shorthand for his late-career attitude. In both tellings, he comes across as someone who has made peace with his place in the culture and is happy to lean into it.
That ease shows up in smaller details too. A news brief that packages his remarks under a “NEED” to “KNOW” banner notes that PEOPLE were reminded he is 69 and still talking about new projects, not retirement. Another version of the same feature, which again spells out that Kenny “Jokes His Favorite Part of Making Music Is Being” “Really Great” at “It After” “Years,” ties that confidence directly to his belief that some of his songs have “become timeless.” Even the way fan pages mark his birthday, with posts that read “Happy Birthday” to Kenny and list his full name as Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, reflects a kind of affectionate familiarity that he seems to enjoy.
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