Kenny G Is Having More Fun on Stage Than Ever Before

What made you want to fly?

I was just intrigued by it. I don’t know why. I had a bass player friend that was doing it. When he talked about it, it rekindled my natural curiosity for it. So I started taking lessons, and I really liked it. I was curious. Like the saxophone, it seems like it’s something that you can conquer in a sense. I’m an instrument pilot, so that’s really tricky stuff.

That sounds more than tricky — it sounds scary.

When you’re flying in the clouds, I used to be really scared of that. I still get a little nervous every time I go into the clouds, because you immediately get vertigo because you have no up or down. I like things that are challenging. I don’t necessarily like that it’s fear-causing. I like things that require dedication to learn how to do, learn how to deal with it. Like being on stage in front of people and performing. A lot of people would get so nervous that they can’t do their best and they get paralyzed. And no matter how good they are in their practice room, they get on stage and then they suck. And then no one knows how good they are. I like the fact that when I get on stage, I can feel the nerves, but it doesn’t stop me from doing my very, very best.

What’s changed for you as a performer as you’ve gotten older?

It’s more fun now. It’s just harder physically — not getting great sleep on the tour bus and then having to perform, I feel in my body. But fun-wise, it’s more fun because I appreciate it more than I did before, because I have more wisdom and more perspective. I look back and go, “Wow, I was playing shows for like 10,000 people.” We played a tour that was like 20,000 people on this one tour in the early ’90s. And I look back and go, “Do you realize how big that was?” I didn’t then. I just thought, Oh, this is just the way things go in a career. And now when we’re doing our small gigs — not that I wish for the big gigs, but I just appreciate the fact that, wow, I’m still here after all these years playing gigs, and people are still coming to see me play. And this is really super special.

Are your sons [with ex-wife, actress-producer Lyndie Benson] musical?

Both. My son Noah [Gorelick, 27] is working with the film score composer Ludwig Göransson, who just won the Academy Award for Oppenheimer. Noah was working on that soundtrack with him. He’s part of his team. So he’s in the right spot. He’s still an apprentice, so he’s not getting the accolades, but he’s paying his dues. My son Max [Gorelick, 30] is a heavy metal guitarist. He’s really trying. He wants to have a record deal, and he doesn’t care about becoming super famous. He just wants to be able to make a living playing his heavy metal guitar stuff. So I’m doing what I can in terms of telling people about him, but I can’t make a career happen for him. But I will tell you this: He’s talented enough. 

You’ve got some comedian friends you golf with — who’s the funniest?

In the book, I talk about my two friends George Lopez and Ray Romano. Those guys are very funny. Martin Short is also a friend. And here’s what I like about those three people — you’re able to talk to them very intelligently and normal and fun, and it’s just nice conversations, but they have the power, when they want to, to make you laugh, whether you’re ready to or not. George Lopez will be talking, and then he’ll just say something just because he wants to show that he has the power over me, like I’m a puppet, and I can’t help it. And Romano will do the same thing, and so will Martin Short. They’re really clever. Also, Larry the Cable Guy. His real name is Dan [Whitney]. He’s a golfer, [so] we became friends. He also has that power, and I really like him.

Do you think about retiring?

As long as my body cooperates — these fingers, they’ve got to move fast, and they do now. My sax playing today is better than it ever has been. Will there be a point as I get older that these things won’t cooperate with my brain? Or maybe my brain doesn’t know how to think as fast as it does now and make the fingers do what they need to do. That’s gonna be sad for me when that happens. I don’t know how I’m gonna deal with it. I don’t want to retire, I really don’t. I want to keep going as long as my teeth still can put a mouthpiece in there. But with all that said … I’m not going to go out there and suck, I can tell you that. And I’m objective. So if I’m hearing myself play, and I can’t keep the tone or play the way I want to play, I won’t do it. But until then, I’m gonna keep going.