Jazz Legends Know Thai King's Just A Cool Sax Player At Heart

BANGKOK, Thailand - The King of Swing once paid the ultimate tribute to the swinging King of Thailand.

Asked about the saxophone-playing king's musical prowess, Benny Goodman noted that the monarch already had a career, "but if he were ever jobless, I would hire him as a member of my band."

This year, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, is marking the 50th anniversary of his ascension to the throne.

A parade of jazz legends has been marching into Bangkok to perform in his honor.

Bhumibol, who is highly regarded for his statesmanship and relentless efforts to better the lives of his poorer subjects, is also a skilled yachtsman, photographer and painter.

But jazz is his enduring passion.

A prolific composer, too

The visiting musicians have all included in their shows some of the 44 big-band jazz and blues compositions written by the king, including "His Majesty's Blues," "Hungry Men's Blues," and "Suk Sanyalak" (Friday Night Rag).

The king's tunes have been recorded by several artists. They were featured on an album by the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra released in February.

Last weekend, pianist Herbie Hancock and saxophonist Wayne Shorter - two leaders of the contemporary jazz scene since their work together in Miles Davis' legendary quintet of the 1960s - performed at the National Theater with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Orchestra.

Bhumibol is an accomplished saxophonist, clarinetist and composer who can hold his own onstage with jazz legends.

"He is simply the coolest king in the land," vibes great Lionel Hampton once said after a jam session at the palace.

Jazz greats salute him

In January, the Count Basie Orchestra, Seattle vocalist Diane Schuur and alto saxophonist Benny Carter, still going strong at age 88, played in a musical salute to the king.

The king is the great-grandson of King Mongkut, the 19th-century monarch whose encounter with Western culture through an English governess was depicted in the Broadway musical "The King and I."

Bhumibol had one of his own songs, "Blue Day," featured in the 1950 Michael Todd Broadway musical "Peep Show."

The king's love of jazz may have something to do with their shared birthplace: America.

He was born in Cambridge, Mass., in 1927 while his father, Prince Mahidol of Songkhla, was attending medical school at Harvard University.

It was as a student in Switzerland, however, that the young prince began his musical education. He quickly abandoned classical music upon discovering Dixieland, and his early idol was reportedly the expatriate soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet.

After ascending to the throne in 1946, the king did not abandon his musical pursuits despite his hectic schedule of devising development projects for the poor.

Fridays filled with music

Instead, he began his fabled Friday night palace jam sessions as a way to "wash away the cares and worries of the day."

Over the years, some of the more illustrious guests have included Goodman, Hampton, Carter, trombonist Jack Teagarden and tenor saxophonist Stan Getz.

The king's own band, the Orsaw Orchestra, has included bankers, students, professors, admirals, and even former Prime Minister Seni Pramoj who played bass and trombone.

"It can be intimidating when you're about to start playing with the king," said Ading Dila, a music critic and saxophonist. "But once the music gets going, you forget about it."

The Thai monarch has also composed a ballet suite entitled "The Manohra," based on a semi-religious mythological epic from southern Thailand.

It earned him an honorary membership in 1964 from Austria in the Institute of Music and Arts of the City of Vienna. He is the only Asian among 27 people so honored.

Now 68 and hampered by heart problems, Bhumibol rarely travels and has been forced to lighten his workload. Nonetheless, his passion for music remains undiminished.

"His majesty once told me," said Ading Dila, "that the happiest moments in his life have come when he's playing music."