Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin last made the Oscar-winning “Free Solo,” about mountain climber Alex Honnold. In my review, I called it a “masterful vision of the West” that plays out "in a juxtaposition of rugged exteriors and murkier, more mysterious interiors.” Widely hailed as one of the best films of the year, “The Power of the Dog” begins streaming Wednesday on Netflix. Adapted by Campion from Thomas Savage's 1967 novel, Cumberbatch plays a domineering Montana rancher who resents his brother's new wife and her son.
Says Kenny G, “The biggest challenge was to write original songs that could fit in with the other songs, which are some of the most beautiful melodies ever written.- Jane Campion, whose last movie was 2009's “Bright Star," makes a triumphant return to filmmaking in “The Power of the Dog, " a frontier psychodrama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons. The duo also co-wrote the title track, the only other original composition on the album. To pay respect to his own religion, Kenny G composed the original “The Chanukah Song” with collaborator Walter Afanasieff, who also co-arranged the album. The musician was able to come to terms with the concept by calling it a “holiday” album, and since the album is all-instrumental, it does not include any religious lyrics. “That was another thing about doing a Christmas album that I was concerned about,” he says.
There was another dilemma as well: Kenny G, whose full surname is Gorelick, is Jewish. These are melodies I grew up listening to.” “When I listened to it again, it sounded really good, like a beautiful lullaby. “I really like to do my own originals, and I wasn’t sure my sax and holiday music fit together.”Īfter Kenny G recorded “Silent Night ” he changed his mind. “It was not something that I immediately jumped on,” he says. Yet when Davis originally suggested the holiday album, the saxophonist was lukewarm to the idea. “I’m in shock,” Kenny G said when he heard the news.
When Arista president/CEO Clive Davis called Kenny G to tell him that Miracles had gone to Number One, the artist was in his back yard playing with his year-old son Max, whose photo is featured on the album. Elvis Presley’s Elvis’ Christmas Album, the previous record-holder, had gone to Number One on December 16, 1956. The rise of Miracles marked the earliest date in a given year that a Christmas album had hit the top spot. What was surprising is how quickly the holiday set took off.
The only thing keeping that album from Number One was The Bodyguard soundtrack, which featured a duet between the saxophonist and Aaron Neville. Kenny G’s previous album, Breathless, spent 10 weeks at number two in late 1992. The commercial success of the record was no surprise. Miracles also had the distinction of being the first instrumental album to top the album chart since Vangelis’s Chariots of Fire soundtrack in April 1982, and the first Christmas instrumental album ever to top the album chart. When saxophonist Kenny G’s Miracles: The Holiday Album moved from number six to the summit in its fourth week on The Billboard 200, it became the first Christmas album to reach Number One since Mitch Miller’s Holiday Sing Along with Mitch reached the top in January 1962. Track listing: Winter Wonderland / White Christmas / Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas / Silent Night / Greensleeves Miracles / Little Drummer Boy / The Chanukah Song / Silver Bells / Away in a Manger / Brahms Lullaby