How many years does it take for something to become a tradition? Whatever your answer to that question may be, Kenny G will be a year closer to becoming a year-end tradition in Hawaii when he returns to the islands Wednesday for a third engagement at Blue Note Hawaii.

The Grammy Award-winning saxophonist played at the Blue Note’s official grand opening in January 2016, and for the holidays at the end of that year. He’s visiting a third time, playing two shows nightly through New Year’s Eve. The second show on Dec. 31 will take the audience into 2018.

“We loved it so much last time that we’re back — and we’ve added an extra night,” the man born Kenneth Bruce Gorelick said Dec. 15. He was calling from London, Ontario, and added that he was looking out his hotel window “at a big snowy city view; it’s snowing like crazy.”

Between then and Wednesday he’ll have played three more shows in snow country and enjoyed Christmas weekend at his home in California. The stopover is nice, he said, but not essential.

“It wouldn’t make any difference if we came right (from Canada) to Hawaii. I take care of myself, I’m exercising and we’re road warriors — I say that now, knock on wood — and we take care of ourselves so we can travel around the world and play,” he said. “It doesn’t take perfect logistics for us to perform well.”

Anyone who caught those sold-out shows knows that you don’t get much closer to Kenny G in concert than when he plays the Blue Note. The 326-seat room isn’t large to begin with, and he starts the show playing out in the audience.

“I like to start the show by connecting with everybody,” he said. “I’ll make my way all the way to the back where the bar is. It think it just sets the mood for the fact that we are so close to each other in such a nice intimate atmosphere as the Blue Note and that people are in for a very, very comfortable experience.”

Nonflash photography and cellphone videos are welcome as long as no one impedes his movement.

“We’re still going to play our hearts out, and we’re going to give them all the musicianship that you would expect out of people that play at the Blue Note, but it’s not going to be intimidating to where we’re just on stage and the audience is ‘the audience’ out there,” he said. “We’re all part of the same experience. I think it’s wonderful that way.”

THE YEAR-END set list will include a few holiday standards as well as a cross section of the songs Kenny G has made into contemporary classics in the 31 years since his fourth album, “Duotones,” rocketed him from success on the jazz charts to pop market stardom. Although the first three albums had done well, “Duotones” peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified quintuple platinum with sales of 5 million copies. The first single off the album, “Don’t Make Me Wait for Love,” featuring Lenny Williams on lead vocals, eventually peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The second, an original composition G titled “Songbird,” reached No. 4.

From there things only got bigger and bigger for Kenny G. His sixth album, “Breathless,” which was released in 1992, was certified 12-times platinum for U.S. sales of 12 million copies. As of the end of this year, he is the top-selling instrumental artist of the modern era with global sales of more than 75 million.

Off stage and out of the recording studio, his interests include flying (he’s certified for multiengine aircraft) and golf (he’s been playing since high school when he was a member of the Franklin High School golf team in Seattle).

His plans while in Hawaii include a couple of rounds of golf — or at least some time on a driving range. Other than playing two shows a night, he intends to relax, “enjoy the great weather, hopefully,” and find some good sushi for lunch.

“That’s kind of my time in Hawaii,” he said cheerfully.

It’s possible he’ll look in on a Starbucks or two while he’s here as well. Kenny G was an early investor in the Seattle-based company.

Looking into 2018, he’ll join George Benson for another date in their “Breezin’ and Breathless” tour Jan. 28 at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, and spend the next few months working on his next album — estimated release date early summer. In April he’ll take a break to play some concert dates in Korea. He described it as “a busy couple of months, but more busy at home, not busy on the road.”

Responding to a final question, he said that he isn’t interested in putting a label on his music — jazz, smooth jazz, pop, whatever people choose to call it is up to them.

“I don’t have a term for it,” he said. “When people ask me what I do, I tell them, ‘I play the saxophone.’”