> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.jewsrock.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Satchmo-lestation - URL: https://www.jewsrock.org/satchmo-lestation/ - Published: 2005-07-01T12:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-20T22:08:59.000Z - Author: JewsRock - Tags: Bad for the Jews *by Izzy Grinspan* The reasons to be embarrassed that Kenny G is Jewish aren’t quite what you think they are. Forget the sentimental nature of his sax playing, which does a great job of making old people happy at weddings. Ignore the geeky waterfall of curls, a look that was actually very cute on my bunkmate Debbie Cohen back at Camp Timber Tops. No, what makes Kenny G bad for the Jews isn’t his obvious lack of cool—it’s his lack of shame. Of course, plenty of other musicians have fudged a little on their way to selling records, but none except Kenny G behaved so cravenly that veteran jazz guitarist Pat Metheny threatened to kick his ass. That threat was prompted by G’s version of "What a Wonderful World." Yes, that "What a Wonderful World"—the one made popular by Louis Armstrong. First released in 1967, the song reached number one in the United Kingdom the following year. It resurfaced as a U.S. hit in the 80s when it made a memorable appearance on the soundtrack to *Good Morning, Vietnam*. "What a Wonderful World" is a euphoric little number, a leisurely stroll through some very simple reasons to be happy. The lyrics, by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss, are so basic that they’re nearly clichés: "trees of green" and "skies of blue," the way "how do you do" means "I love you"—even the rhymes are simplistic. But when Satchmo sings them, in his unhurried, gravelly way, you know he means every word. Kenny G apparently thought so too, which is why he appropriated the entire vocal track for his 1999 album *Classics in the Key of G*. On that record, his eleventh for Arista, the man born Kenny Gorelick treacled his way through such standards as "The Look of Love" and "Girl from Ipanema." The latter featured Bebel Gilberto, so "What a Wonderful World" wasn’t the only track for which Kenny G needed outside help—but Gilberto was consulted on the use of her voice. Armstrong had no choice, since he’d been dead for years. The version of "Wonderful World" on *Key of G* is basically the sound of a genius forced into a posthumous duet with a bozo. Perhaps somebody should have explained to Kenny G that Satchmo got it right the first time, or that it’d be tasteless to splice a giant of the genre into the same tune as a hack. Nobody did. So the job of spluttering outrage fell to Pat Methany. And that guy can splutter. Few feuds have ever been quite as mismatched as Metheny vs. G. Pat Metheny is a well-respected guitarist, the winner of 15 Grammies. He’s played with Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, and David Bowie. For years, jazz musicians had been grumbling about Kenny G: His music, they complained, was cloying and predictable, his melodies obvious and banal. Moreover, his total lack of improvisation caused some to wonder if what he did even counted as jazz. Going up against Metheny, he didn’t stand a chance. The beat-down started, as so many of these things do, on a Polish television show for children. Explaining to the kids why some people don’t like jazz, Metheny cited Kenny G, adding, "I mean, there’s nothing more stupid than that. Let’s face it, that’s the dumbest music there could ever possibly be in the history of human beings." He was just getting warmed up. After the video clip began circulating around the Internet, a fan wrote in to Metheny’s website asking him to elaborate. The veteran guitarist responded by posting a furious, foul-mouthed essay. Among other things, Methany accused G of "\[defiling\] the music of the man who is probably the greatest jazz musician that has ever lived by spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, fucked up playing all over one of the great Louis’s tracks" and "\[shitting\] all over the graves" of hardworking jazz musicians. He concluded by stating that Kenny G had brought our culture to a new low, then he threatened to wrap his guitar around Gorelick’s curly-locked head if he ever happened to run into him. Kenny G didn’t even try to respond, despite the further provocation of crazed Metheny fans posting obscene rants on his official website. And, as there are no recorded incidences of Methany assaulting anyone with his Fender, it’s safe to assume that he never made good on his threats. The verbal chiding he gave Gorelick, however, will go down in the annals of jazz as the most famous nonmusical riff of all time. At least the story ends on a somewhat happy note: Kenny G donated all proceeds from his "Wonderful" to a foundation supplying arts funding for at-risk kids. Which is nice, of course. But it merely suggests that the man had enough sense to forgo the profits of a calamity of his own making. Izzy Grinspan has been published in the Village Voice, the London Times, and the Philadelphia Weekly. She is in no way affiliated with Izzy Stradlin.