Smooth jazz fans inside Morristown, NJ’s MPAC auditorium this Thursday, September 24, 2026 evening prepare for a live performance filled with heart and soul by one of the best-selling musicians of all time, saxophonist Kenny G.
Before the show begins, Kenny G takes the MPAC stage to help present certificates to outstanding student woodwind players from the area. He also invites concertgoers to purchase tickets for a drawing where the prize will not only include a soprano saxophone which Kenny designed but also an invitation to come on stage and be serenaded by Kenny.
The lights dim and the crowd cheers as the spotlight shines on Kenny G who appears standing in the center aisle of the front section of the auditorium playing his soprano saxophone.
On stage, keyboardist Robert Damper, guitarist John Raymond, bassist Vail Johnson, and drummer Daniel Bejarano accompany Kenny’s effortless playing on his smooth jazz number, “Loving You.”
Fast soprano sax trills and runs contrast to long chords played by keyboardist Damper on “Silhouette.” Music lovers watch with rapt attention as Kenny’s skillful fingers fly up, down, and around his instrument on this contemporary jazz piece.
Using circular breathing, Kenny holds out an incredibly long note which elicits cheers before he fist-bumps a fan in the audience. Moving from the theater aisle to the stage while still holding the same long note, Kenny continues to play the song onstage with amazing accuracy and range eliciting avid cheers from the crowd.
Lights sweep across the stage and heads bop to the beat on the rhythmic jazz tune, “G Bop,” which has concertgoers cheering and Kenny responding, “Thank you!”
Revealing that he still plays the same soprano sax that he played in high school, Kenny further notes that his backup band has been together for over 35 years and that he and keyboardist Robert Damper even performed in their high school jazz band together. After pointing out that all of the musicians in his ensemble learned how to play their instruments from their public school music teachers, Kenny thanks the audience for coming out tonight, acknowledging, “It is our dream to play real live music for you!”
Kenny’s lilting soprano sax carries the easy groove of the slow ballad, “Sentimental,” before he and the ensemble sail into “Havana,” a dance number which features crisp rhythms and a Latin feel.
Moving on to “Sax-o-loco,” a Latin-infused jazz tune with a salsa melody, Kenny’s soprano calls out as he moves across the stage like the Pied Piper before John Raymond impresses with a Carlos Santana-inspired electric guitar solo.
Kenny follows up with “Forever in Love,” an easy flowing ballad which features Damper on piano.
Kenny holds up a tenor saxophone to announce, “We’re going to make this theater into a jazz club from the 1950s and ‘60s.” Explaining that the band is going to improvise to the point where “we don’t know when or who will solo next or when it will end,” Kenny plays tenor on a top-notch arrangement of Stan Getz’s bossa nova, “Desafinado,” which incorporates snippets of such recognizable tunes as “The Girl from Ipanema” and “Summertime” before ending with a coda of “My Favorite Things.”
The crowd cheers and Kenny suggests, “Let’s stay in the jazz club,” as he continues to play tenor on a gorgeous interpretation of John Coltrane’s ballad, “Naima.” Changing styles, the band shifts into a funky snippet of Average White Band’s “Pick Up the Pieces,” after which Vail Johnson solos with slaps, slides, chords, and harmonics on electric bass before Daniel Beharino impresses with a precision drum solo under flashing lights.
Kenny introduces his bandmates prior to talking about his upcoming international tour and revealing that one of his songs is extremely well-known in China. Here, he performs “Going Home,” where his soprano sax calls out the pretty melody on this smooth jazz number which signals the end of the day for many Chinese workers, shoppers, and school students.
Kenny invites the winners of tonight’s soprano saxophone giveaway — Lori and Steve from Madison — to take a seat on stage where he performs his slow, majestic ballad, “Anthem,” for them before presenting them with the sax and posing for selfies.
Concertgoers applaud and Kenny and Co. step into the happy-go-lucky smooth jazz tune, “Heart and Soul,” after which band members exit the stage leaving Kenny alone to play a soprano saxophone “Cadenza” where he masterfully improvises with fancy finger work and circular breathing generating enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
The ensemble returns to accompany Kenny on his 1985 Top 5 hit, “Songbird,” which has concertgoers cheering and applauding for this appealing smooth jazz number.
Kenny and Co. conclude tonight’s show with their interpretation of the power ballad, “My Heart Will Go On,” from Titanic where lights shine over the musicians and fans rise to their feet before Kenny says “Thank you!” and waves goodnight to the cheering crowd.
To learn more about Kenny G, please go to www.kennyg.com. For information on upcoming performances at MPAC — including Toad the Wet Sprocket on October 21, Art Garfunkel on November 6, Don McLean and Lee Greenwood on November 15, 10,000 Maniacs on November 19, Judy Collins on November 22, and Darlene Love on December 4 — please go to mayoarts.com.
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