In the HBO documentary Listening to Kenny G, the unusual appeal of the much-maligned ‘smooth jazz’ musician is put under the spotlight
Penny Lane, who has directed a new music documentary centered on Kenny G, has no interest in music documentaries and would never voluntarily listen to a Kenny G record. “Biographical documentaries on musicians never appealed to me,” she said to the Guardian. “And I tend to like music that’s challenging or dark or conflicted. Kenny G’s music is none of those things.”
Music critics overwhelmingly agree. So while Kenny G’s music may have made tens of millions of fans swoon over the last four decades, making him the bestselling instrumental artist of all time, critical reactions have toggled between a yawn and a sneer. That disparity intrigued Lane, who is known for creating highly unconventional documentaries like Nuts!, which retold the true story a doctor who tried to cure impotence with a goat testicle implant, and Hail Satan?, which dared challenge conventional views of devil-worshippers. Lane’s reputation for taking a creative approach to her subjects brought her to the attention of producer Bill Simmons as he was creating a new series of music documentaries for HBO. Simmons asked Lane to brainstorm one of her own and so, as she said, “I tried to think of a subject that would allow me to deal with this conflict in taste between the intelligentsia and the masses. From there, it was easy to get to Kenny G.”