Vol. 14 No. 1 (2023)
Articles

Revisiting Kenny G (Colloquy): Listening Past Kenny G - Crossover Jazz and the Foregrounding of Black Sensualities

Charles D. Carson
University of Texas at Austin
Bio

Published 2023-05-30

How to Cite

Carson, C. D. (2023). Revisiting Kenny G (Colloquy): Listening Past Kenny G - Crossover Jazz and the Foregrounding of Black Sensualities. Journal of Jazz Studies, 14(1), 35–46. https://doi.org/10.14713/jjs.v14i1.246

Abstract

From fusion jazz, to quiet storm, to neo-soul and lo-fi hip hop, jazz has often been used as a marker of authenticity in contemporary Black popular genres. Given his disproportionate popularity, the class-ing, racialization, and gendering of Kenny G in popular culture has become, in effect, the lens through which we evaluate all forms of crossover jazz. Ultimately, critiques that focus on Kenny G as a means to dismiss such musics are rooted in racialized discourses of authenticity that ignore the long tradition of crossover projects that characterize Black popular musics broadly.