FAITH: A HOLIDAY ALBUM includes "Auld Lang Syne (Millennium Mix), a compilation of 140 back-to-back soundbites which span the century, including Thomas Edison's first words recorded on phonograph, Bob Hope, I Love Lucy, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King Jr., FDR, JFK, American Bandstand, Saturday Night Live and more, all to the melody of Auld Lang Syne.
Personnel includes: Kenny G (soprano & tenor saxophones); William Ross, Chris Boardman (conductor); Walter Afanasieff (piano, keyboards, synthesizer, programming); Randy Waldman (piano); Greg Phillinganes (Fender Rhodes piano); Nathan East (bass); Ricky Lawson (drums); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Greg Bleck (programming).
Engineers: Humberto Gatica, David Gleeson, David Frazer.
FAITH: A HOLIDAY ALBUM was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
FAITH is the second holiday collection from the world's most popular soprano saxophonist, Kenny G. Whereas on his first holiday album, MIRACLES, Kenny G was given to interpretative flights of fancy, FAITH finds the well-coifed pop icon delivering versions of Christmas standards that are relatively faithful to the originals.
On the opening "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!," Kenny G blows sprightly lines over lush strings, acoustic piano, and Rhodes keyboard, making for an appropriately high-spirited version of this Yuletide chestnut. An energetic take on "Sleigh Ride" provides the opportunity for Kenny G to stretch out and take a few spicy solos. "We Three Kings" is delivered with typical Eastern melodic flair, as the soprano saxophone proves a perfect vehicle for the lightly seductive lines of the piece. Kenny G makes a somewhat anomalous venture into jazz stylings on a loungey take on "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." So timeless and well executed are the pieces in this collection that one can imagine this music being broadcast down the echoing halls of a bustling shopping mall or drifting across the grounds of a quaint snow-filled roadside Christmas Tree farm.
