Faith: A Holiday Album
Kenny G currently owns the smooth-jazz soprano sax with his popular, mainstream arrangements and compositions. And on his first holiday album, despite occasionally predictable charts and phrasing, the saxman delivers a thoughtful and moving collection of songs, spirituals, and hymns, with his trademark sound wedded to several ensemble and orchestral arrangements. The G-man stretches out in "Sleigh Ride" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," but these are balanced by more serious pieces such as the lovely, original "Eternal Light ( A Chanukah Song)" and "Ave Maria." There's a genuine humbleness and inspired reverence in the playing here--as in, Kenny G really means it, man. After a ghost track, "The Christmas Song," the record closes with a haunting audio history of America's last century, which runs under a revisited version of "Auld Lang Syne." Summing up a turbulent and triumphant 100 years, this one is sure to put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye.--Martin Keller