VietNamNet Bridge – The American renowned saxophonist will perform only one night in Hanoi on October 13.

The 2-hour show is scheduled to take place at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, as part of Kenny G’s Asian tour. Before the show, Kenny G will meet with the Vietnamese audience for 30 minutes. This will be the first show of the American artist in Vietnam.

Kenny G will arrive in Hanoi on the evening of October 12. He will meet with the local media the next morning. Vietnam will be his destination after two shows in South Korea on the evening of October 10 and 11. Kenny G will use his own private orchestra during the Asian tour.

Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in the city's Seward Park neighborhood. He came into contact with a saxophone when he heard someone performing on The Ed Sullivan Show. He started playing the saxophone in 1966 when he was 10 years old. He learned how to play under the direction of local trumpeter Gerald Pfister and by practicing along with records, trying to emulate the sounds that he was hearing.

Kenny G attended Whitworth Elementary School, Sharples Junior High School, Franklin High School, and the University of Washington, all in his home town of Seattle. When he entered high school, he failed on his first try to get into the jazz band, but tried again the following year and earned first chair.

Kenny G's career started with a job as a sideman for Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973 while 17 and still in high school. He continued to play professionally while studying for a major in accounting at the University of Washington in Seattle and graduated magna cum laude. He played with the funk band Cold, Bold and Together before becoming an accredited member of The Jeff Lorber Fusion. He began his solo career after his period with Lorber.

Kenny G signed with Arista Records as a solo artist in 1982, after label president Clive Davis heard his rendition of ABBA's "Dancing Queen". He has released many solo albums and collaborated with various artists including Andrea Bocelli, Whitney Houston, Peabo Bryson, Aaron Neville, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole, Steve Miller, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra, Smokey Robinson, Bebel Gilberto, George Benson, Chante Moore and Aretha Franklin…. Influenced by the likes of saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., his own albums are usually classified as smooth jazz.

He received success quite early on, with both G Force and Gravity, his second and third studio albums respectively, achieving platinum status in the United States. These sales were topped by his fourth studio album, Duotones, which sold over 5 million copies in the U.S. alone. His sixth studio album, Breathless, became the number one best selling instrumental album ever, with over 15 million copies sold, of which 12 million were in the U.S. He broke another record when his first holiday album, Miracles, sold over 13 million copies, making it the most successful Christmas album to date.

In 1997, Kenny G earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing the longest note ever recorded on a saxophone.

In February 2000, Kenny G was invited to the White House and performed for state governors and members of the Clinton Cabinet.

As of 2003, Kenny G was named the 25th-highest selling artist in America by the RIAA, with 48 million albums sold in the USA as of July 31, 2006. In 1994, Kenny G won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for Forever in Love.

PV