Wholesome Reality

Kenny G will bring his repertoire of jazz and R & B-flavored tunes to the Civic Arts Plaza for a Saturday night concert. He’s got the hair. He’s got the hits. He’s got it all except praise from the critics, who purchase few albums anyway.

Kenny G (for Gorelick) is a Seattle native with a storybook career.

He played the sax in high school and studied accounting at the University of Washington. Through some local connections, he ended up backing up Barry White when White stopped in Seattle on tour. Hometown gigs soon followed with Johnny Mathis, the Spinners, Liberace and even the Ringling Bros. Circus.

After a few years with the Jeff Lorber Fusion, Kenny G released his solo debut in 1982.

His fourth album, 1986’s “Duotones,” contained the smash hit “Songbird,” creating a new audience for instrumental music.

In addition to being a famous sax player, Kenny is also known for his duets with the likes of Toni Braxton, Babyface, Michael Bolton, Peabo Bryson and many others.

He has also won Grammys, has his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has sold more than 40 million albums.

A nice guy, the fortysomething G-Man discussed the latest in his life during a recent phone interview.

Why did you end up with a sax and not guitar or some other instrument?

I saw a guy playing the saxophone on TV and I just got inspired.

How much does a good sax cost these days?

Well, I’m sort of out of the loop these days, but I would say a good sax would cost around three grand. I paid $300 for my first horn. Each sax sounds totally different, especially the old ones--don’t ask me why. A harmonica would be easier to carry around.

Some rock star guitarists have a hundred guitars. Do you have a room full of saxes?

Personally, I don’t believe in hoarding. I have three sopranos, two altos and two tenors. The spares rarely come out of their cases, but I do have a couple that could be shipped to me in an emergency if, say, a key fell off when I was in Kansas.

Who do you think are cool sax players?

The new guys I don’t listen to much, but as to the old guys, I like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, even though I don’t play like they do.

There were a lot of instrumental hits in the ‘60s by guys like Acker Bilk and Jorgen Ingmann, who were one-hit wonders. Why do you think this is so, and why weren’t you a one-hit wonder?

Pure luck. There is luck involved, but I never bought into that whole one-hit wonder thing. After I had a big hit with “Songbird,” I just kept doing what I do.

What future collaborations are in the works?

I have no idea. It just kind of happens and everything seems to work out fine.

Tell me a Liberace story?

I had to play a lot of different instruments--sax, oboe and clarinet. I had to do this oboe solo every night--and I wasn’t the best oboe player in the world--and the other band members were laughing. Liberace himself was a very competent musician, but he did exactly the same show every night. Every line, every look, every inflection and every nuance was exactly the same. There was something I didn’t like about it, but also something I respected about that gig.

What about the circus?

That was a grueling gig. We had one rehearsal and there were 70 or 80 pieces to play. We were turning the pages and sight-reading really fast for 2 1/2 hours. That gig was physically grueling.

How did the success of “Songbird” change things for you?

I started to play for more people and make more money. I could pay the guys in the band more money, so they were happy. Over the years, I’m still in the game--18 years and a dozen albums for Arista. I may not hit a home run every time, but I’m still in the game and I’m very proud of that. There are a lot of good things, but also a lot of responsibility and the notion of being quote-unquote famous. But it’s a good thing, and I feel everything will work out fine, and it always has.

Who goes to a Kenny G show?

That depends where I play. In Florida, we get a lot of older people--retirees enjoying the sunshine. If I play in Washington, D. C., we get a half black and half white audience. If I play in Alabama, I get a mostly black audience. The audience is mixed, very diverse. Actually, I don’t care who goes because I have fun when I play and want everyone who comes to a show to have a good time as well.

What’s the most misunderstood thing about Kenny G?

I don’t know. I don’t think people care that much about me. My career is about as perfect as it can be, which is very flattering to me. I’m very gratified by it. I like what I do; I’ve had hit records and people like the music. I don’t really get a lot of press and nobody cares what I think about the issues or what I wear. I don’t think anyone really cares about any of that stuff, which allows me to be myself.

How about those Seahawks?

It’s looking pretty good, isn’t it? But really, I don’t care much about professional sports. I care more about my son’s soccer game and being a good husband.

You have the squeaky clean image of the boy next door. Tell me something rotten you’ve done.

I try not to do rotten things. I really care about my fellow man and my fellow woman as well. I find it hard to do something mean because I’m always putting myself in the other person’s place. I don’t want to hurt anyone and I try to treat everyone the same, from the janitor to a CEO. I don’t see how mean people can live with themselves. I may have this apple-pie guy image, but it really is me.

DETAILS

Kenny G at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Saturday, 8 p.m.; $76.50 or $66.50; 449-2787.

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Life isn’t fair, and life’s weird soundtrack, music, is doubly not. Lousy bands dominate the radio and win Grammys. Every geezer who ever sang a song or played a note is coming back or won’t go away. Disco not only isn’t dead--it’s not even sick. Talent, while a good thing, clearly isn’t the only thing. Even around here.

For my money (and I get in free), the Mudheads out of Ventura and Tao Jonz out of Santa Barbara were the best two local bands of all time.

Both bands entered the past tense years ago, but the Jonz boys, with all four original members, are coming back to Santa Barbara for a five-buck gig tonight at that Mexican restaurant that rocks, Yucatan, located on State Street.

Just another band with a cool and funny name, Tao Jonz had a repertoire of more than 70 originals that were an eclectic mix of reggae, ska, blues and rock and that sounded like, well, Tao Jonz.

They released a tape and two CDs and never played a cover song. They’re back in town for tonight’s gig and a wedding on Saturday, then it’s back from whence they came. The band’s last local gig was five years ago at the Calypso in Santa Barbara.

Shortly thereafter, guitar player and singer Jimmy Werking, with a brand new PhD in electrical engineering from UCSB, bailed to Austin, where he has been ever since. The other singer, bass player Doug Jaffe, is in the Bay Area along with the drummer, Stosh, both doing their own things with their own bands. The keyboard player, Johnny Atmosphere, is a professional student elsewhere, evidently learning how to be poor. Here’s the lowdown according to Jaffe:

“I’ve got a band up here now--with a rapper, sort of like Limp Bizkit, except mellower. Stosh has a band, too. Johnny is still going to school up in Humboldt for something like 20 years now. I see Jimmy once in a while but he still lives back in Texas, working as an electrical engineer. He has a band, too. I heard them over the phone once. We’ve all been practicing Tao Jonz songs--we may mess up a word here and there, but it’s gonna be cool.”

DETAILS

Tao Jonz and Grant’s Grove at Yucatan, 1117 State St., Santa Barbara, tonight at 10; $5; 564-1889.

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If you can picture Santa with a 10-gallon hat and a sleigh drawn by Texas longhorns, then you’re getting the drift of the Cowboy Christmas Concert at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, featuring one of those guys with three names, Michael Martin Murphey.

Backed by the Rio Grande Band, cowboy crooner Murphey has been giving this concert since 1985, which just happened to be the 100th anniversary of the original Cowboy Christmas Concert held in Anson, Texas.

The show will feature special sets, plenty of western music and country poetry. Many of the songs can be found on Murphey’s hit album, “Cowboy Christmas: Cowboy Songs II.”

Here’s the lowdown, pards, fresh from the singer’s brand-new bio: “Imagine yourself coming in off the range in the late 1890s and walking into a dance hall full of ladies with long skirts and ranchers in high boots and string ties with their hair slicked back.

“It was a chance to socialize with their neighbors, hear some good music and have a party after working hard all spring, summer and fall.

“The purpose of my Cowboy Christmas Concert is to revive that spirit. In keeping with the old-fashioned, down-home flavor of the show, we toss in a bit of cracker-barrel philosophy and homespun humor. We respect the true meaning of Christmas, but we also emphasize the fun and joy of the season.”

DETAILS

Michael Martin Murphey at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Wednesday, 8 p.m.; $36.50, $31.50 or $21.50; 449-2787.