I think my playing would be good on everybody's track, on every record that's ever been made.
What were you responding to in the one track that you singled out? Why did you think that your playing would be good on that track? And so I thought, "Because Ray's back there, I know it's going to be super funny me serenading him." So I decided for that reason to go down and do it. And I'm thinking, "Wow, that was so fast!" I wasn't really going to do it, but one of the guests was Ray Romano, and Ray's a very good friend of mine. And then I get a call from James Corden’s show, that they want me to come out to the show and do what I did backstage for their guests. And then, you know, after I left the studio, I had about a million messages on my phone about it because everybody saw it on social media. I wasn't thinking that it was still Valentine's Day. Once we left his house, and we were in the studio, I was just listening to the music. So being that it was Valentine's Day, when you guys did go into the studio and when you started collaborating, were you kind of in a romantic mindset? I'm getting back when I see the smiles coming from those guys and the looks in their faces and the eye contact that we made while I was playing-there was a lot of love coming back to me from both Kanye and Kim. I felt proud that I was able to create a beautiful sound for that moment. I felt very proud that somebody of Kanye's caliber, who probably could call anybody in the world be there, thought that I would be a person that he would want in this intimate vibe, serenading his wife. We spoke to the currently touring silky jazz maestro about the experience, what he knows of the album, and how collaborating with Kanye affected his own art. But one thing does seem clear: Kenny G’s playing stuck. The album, which has since transformed from Yandhi to Jesus Is King, remains a mystery to all but a few. He noodled, took the record home and noodled on it some more, and sent it back to Kanye. To which Kanye said, "Cool," pulled out a microphone, and let Kenny G do his thing. "You know, I think if my saxophone was on there it would sound really good," he said. Spirits high, after the performance, Kanye took Kenny to his studio to play him some music he was working on… And that’s when Kenny G had an idea. For a change, Kanye was in the news for something uncomplicatedly good and sweet (the only red in the room was the flowers). For most of the video, the camera is trained on Kenny G, but you imagine that what’s happening behind the camera looks something like this. Kim taped it, and posted the clip online with an ecstatic caption. In the middle of it all, there was a clear path, and at the end of it, Kenny G, his soprano, and an ethereal sensation. In a completely bare-sorry, minimal-white room, Kanye laid out a garden of roses in clear vases, like it was a conceptual exhibit at LACMA.
The plan, hatched by Kanye, was to surprise serenade Kim with the sax-playing synonym of smooth himself. This past Valentine’s Day, duty took Cupid to the West-Kardashian household. Which is how Kenny G (probably) wound up on the (hopefully) forthcoming Kanye West album. Out of the (correct) notion that if he pushes the right buttons on his instrument and the vibe is correct, he might just shoot an arrow through the hearts of some lucky lovers. Not out of need for money or even for self-affirmation, mind you, but rather in the name of love.
Every Valentine’s Day, that saxophone player-beloved by Kanye West, and the same one whose music you hear, well, everywhere-takes a gig. Cupid isn’t real, but you might be fooled by a certain 63-year-old saxophone player with long locks of curly brown hair and an affinity for custom-made suits.