Songfacts®:

• Those unfamiliar with Kenny G's early work will be surprised to hear this one. It's an R&B song with vocals and a groove.
  
  Kenny G got the attention of Arista Records when he was part of a jazz band led by Jeff Lorber. Signed to a solo deal, his first album was released in 1982 and didn't contain any singles. Very much a jazz album, it sold about 30,000 copies - enough to keep him on the label, but with some tweaks. For his second album, G Force, Arista teamed him with the R&B hitmaker Kashif, known for his work with Evelyn King. Kashif had him record "Hi, How Ya Doin'?," written by Steve Horton, who also had R&B bona fides, having worked with Don Blackman and the Fatback Band. Released as Kenny G's first single, it went to #23 on the R&B chart and made #70 on the UK singles chart.
  
  But Kenny G didn't have all that much to do with the song. He played the synthesizer and breaks off a signature sax solo, but most of it is carried by session musicians. It took a few more years, but he eventually found his niche with self-written instrumentals where he plays saxophone all the way through.
• Barry Johnson, better known as a bass player, sang the lead vocals on this track.
• The song is about a pickup, with the singer spotting a lovely lady and making his move. The title is his pickup line: "Hi, how ya doin'?" Not very original, but effective when said with confidence and conviction.
• "Hi, How Ya Doin'?" was Kenny G's first video. He plays an incompetent waiter who lamely tries to pick up a customer. He fails, but when he shows up with his saxophone and blows some riffs, she falls for him hard.
  
  Kenny G even does some breakdancing in the video, attempting a Moonwalk, the Worm, and a spin where he emerges with his sax to play his solo.
• On both the single and album cover, Kenny G appears in a solarized photo so there's no way to tell he's white. This was a marketing strategy because the song was targeted to R&B radio.