'The best sax you've ever had': Albuquerque couple wins free saxophone from Kenny G

Oh, what a night!

Albuquerque couple Heather and Greg Jordan came away with bragging rights after seeing popular smooth jazz artist Kenny G on Jan. 24, at the Kiva Auditorium inside the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Greg Jordan, a retired property manager, took home the musician’s instrument of choice — a soprano saxophone. Unlike his wife, he can’t play it, but he takes it in stride.

“I’m a collector now,” Greg Jordan said with a laugh.

He carried the instrument out of the auditorium in a case, but not before being serenaded on stage by the recording artist, whose full name is Kenneth Gorelick. Gorelick, with his long, frizzy hair and megawatt smile, posed for selfies with the couple, who held hands as they sat in chairs and listened to the concert alongside the musician’s five-piece band.

Gorelick had told audience members that the show would be delayed because they were not seated fast enough, but those that had would be able to participate in a raffle to win his saxophone.

“You’re going to have the best sax you’ve ever had in your life,” Gorelick said. “Look at the size of this thing!”

The instrument was new, in contrast to the one Gorelick played on stage, which dates back to his days as a Seattle high school student.

Following the show that had such a large crowd, Heather Jordan did not expect to win the saxophone, but felt the raffle was worth it in hopes she could teach her first grandchild how to play the saxophone.

“When (Gorelick) called out the number, and I realized it (the winning number) was one less than my number, I instantly looked at my husband, and he looked at me and said, ‘It’s me; I won,’” Heather Jordan said.

Greg Jordan said he felt like a “champ” and a “VIP” for winning the saxophone.

Listening to Gorelick up on stage was a bit like “a car coming at you,” he said, referencing the lights shining onto the band.

But the sound was something to behold, the couple said.

“I took a moment to just be there with my husband,” she said. “I had Kenny G, feet away from me, playing. I was just watching his fingers play the keys. Oh, it was incredible.”

The couple’s new soprano saxophone sits on their kitchen table waiting to be played until Heather Jordan finds a reed for the mouthpiece, she said.