Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington, to Jewish parents (his mother was originally from Saskatchewan, Canada) and grew up in the city's Seward Park neighborhood, which is a center of the city's Jewish community. He came into contact with the saxophone when he heard a performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.[1] He started playing the saxophone in 1966 when he was 10 years old, his first saxophone being a Buffet Crampon alto.[3]