Alex Henderson

Kenny G
G Force  [Expanded Edition]

One of the most lucrative associations of Kenny G’s career started in 1983, when the Seattle-born saxophonist began working with native New Yorker and former BT Express keyboardist Michael Jones, better known as Kashif. By that point, Kashif had established himself as one of post-1970s R&B’s most prolific producer/songwriters, scoring an impressive list of major hits that included “I’m in Love” for Evelyn “Champagne” King in 1981, “So Fine” for Howard Johnson in 1982, “Love’s Comin’ at Ya” for Melba Moore in 1982, “Love Come Down” for King in 1982 and “Inside Love” for George Benson in 1983. And it was also in 1983 that Kashif, after devoting so much time to other artists’ projects, launched his own solo career and demonstrated that he was a first-class singer. Released by Arista Records that year, Kashif’s self-titled debut solo album boasted the smash hit “I Just Gotta Have You (Lover, Turn Me On)”—which reached #5 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart in the United States.

Without a doubt, Kashif had the Midas touch in 1983. And Kenny had a track record as well. Born on June 5, 1956, Kenny joined the late Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra when he was only 17 in 1973—and he went on to play instrumental jazz-fusion as a member of keyboardist Jeff Lorber’s Band, the Jeff Lorber Fusion, in the early 1980s.

Kenny’s self-titled debut album, which Lorber produced with Meco Monardo, was released by Arista in 1982—and the following year, Kenny teamed up with Kashif for his second album, G Force. With Kashif associate Wayne Braithwaite serving as producer and Kashif serving as executive producer, G Force has Kashif’s stamp all over it. The Kashif sound—sleek and polished yet funky, soulful and not without grit—is all over this album, from the vocal offerings “Hi, How Ya Doin’?” and “Do Me Right” (both of which feature singer Barry “Sunjohn” Johnson on lead vocals) to groove-oriented instrumentals such as “I’ve Been Missin’ You,” “I Wanna Be Yours,” “Sunset at Noon,” “Tribeca” and the title track.

Written by Steve Horton, the infectious single “Hi, How Ya Doin’?” reached #23 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart in the U.S. and was a #70 hit in the U.K. Kashif co-wrote three of the eight selections that appeared on Arista’s original 1983 LP: “Sunset at Noon,” “I’ve Been Missin’ You” and the lush “Tribeca.” And “Help Yourself to My Love” was written by Kashif associate Paul Lawrence Jones III. Although Kashif sang lead on the original vocal version of “Help Yourself to My Love”—which was included on his 1983 debut solo album and became a #28 R&B hit in Billboard in the U.S.—Kenny performs it as an instrumental on G Force.

Despite the success of “Hi, How Ya Doin’?,” G Force is primarily an instrumental album—and in 1983, it wasn’t hard to tell which instrumentalists had influenced Kenny’s saxophone playing. The late Grover Washington, Jr. is a prominent influence on this album, and there are also elements of Ronnie Laws and David Sanborn in his playing. Kenny embraces different members of the saxophone family on G Force, easily moving from alto sax to tenor sax to soprano sax.

Although Lorber doesn’t play nearly as prominent a role on G Force as he did on 1982’s Kenny G, he plays keyboards on “Hi, How Ya Doin’?,” “I’ve Been Missin’ You” and the title track. And Kenny sends Lorber a shout out in the credits, telling him, “It all started with you, and I will never forget that. Thank you for being such a great friend and teacher.”

Other musicians who join Kenny and Kashif on G Force include Barry Eastmond on keyboards, Marlon McClain on guitar, Bashiri Johnson on percussion and Omar Hakim and Yogi Horton on drums. The album’s background vocalists include Freddie Jackson—whose solo career exploded when Capitol Records released his first album, Rock Me Tonight, two years later—Lillo Thomas, B.J. Nelson, Steve “City” Horton, Yolanda Lee and La Forrest Cope, a.k.a. La La. In 1985, La La enjoyed considerable success as a songwriter when Whitney Houston recorded her ballad, “You Give Good Love,” which was produced by Kashif and reached #1 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart in the U.S. and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Funkytown Grooves’ expanded 2016 edition of G Force contains all eight selections from the original 1983 LP along with eight bonus tracks, which range from a live version of “Tribeca” to 7” single and instrumental versions of “Hi, How Ya Doin’?”

After G Force, Kenny and Kashif were reunited on Kenny’s third album for Arista, Gravity—which was released in 1985 and, like G Force, had Kashif’s distinctive stamp all over it. Kashif, in fact, was featured on lead vocals on Gravity’s hit single, “Love on the Rise,” written by Wayne Braithwaite and Dee Cooley. Kenny G and Kashif parted company after Gravity, and 1986 saw the release of one of Kenny’s most famous albums: Duotones, which contained the hit instrumental ballad “Songbird” and was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of more than five million units in the United States. Subsequent Kenny G releases on Arista, including Silhouette in 1988 and Breathless in 1992, were also huge sellers.

Kenny, who turned 60 on June 5, 2016, has maintained a busy schedule touring and recording. And Kashif, now 56, has stayed busy as well, although many of his post-1980s activities have been in more of a behind-the-scenes capacity. Nonetheless, Kashif recorded sporadically as a solo artist after the 1980s, offering Who Loves You? for the Expansion label in 1998 and Music From My Mind for Brooklyn Boy in 2004.

When one looks back on R&B in the 1980s, there is no denying that Kashif had a major impact. Whether he was working with Evelyn “Champagne” King, Melba Moore, Howard Johnson, George Benson, Johnny Kemp, Stacy Lattisaw or Meli’sa Morgan, Kashif’s sound was among the most recognizable that 1980s R&B had to offer. And on Kenny G’s G Force, the Kashif sound is impossible to miss.

—Alex Henderson, August 2016

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Salon.com, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, JazzTimes, Jazziz, The Raw Story, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, The New York City Jazz Record and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to the popular Allmusic.com website and The All Music Guide’s series of music reference books.