Simply the coolest
King in the land 42
I
Ŷ ƚŚĞ :ĂŶƵĂƌLJ ϭϬƚŚ ϮϬϬϲ ĞĚŝƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŐŬŽŬ WŽƐƚ EĞǁƐƉĂƉĞƌ͕ ĂŶ ĂƌƟĐůĞ ĂƉƉĞĂƌĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ƟƚůĞ ͞dŚĞ :ĂnjnjLJ <ŝŶŐ͘͟ dŚĞ ĂƌƟĐůĞ ĚĞƐĐƌŝďĞĚ ŚŽǁ ŽŶ ^ĂƚƵƌĚĂLJ ŶŝŐŚƚƐ Ă ŐƌŽƵƉ ŽĨ ƐŽŵĞ ϭϬ ƉƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂů ĂŶĚ ĂŵĂƚĞƵƌ ŵƵƐŝĐŝĂŶƐ͕ ŵŽƐƚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞŝƌ ϲϬƐ ĂŶĚ ϳϬƐ͕ ŐĂƚŚĞƌĞĚ ƚŽŐĞƚŚĞƌ ŶĞĂƌ ƚŚĞ ďĞĂĐŚ ŝŶ ,ƵĂ ,ŝŶ Ăƚ Ă ƉůĂĐĞ ĐĂůůĞĚ <ůĂŝ <ĂŶŐ tŽŶ ĨŽƌ Ă ũĂnjnj ƌĞŶĚĞnjǀŽƵƐ͘ The well-seasoned musicians took ƚŚĞŝƌ ƟŵĞ ƚŽ ĮŶĚ ƚŚĞŝƌ ƐĞĂƚƐ͘ tŝƚŚ instruments in hand, lips to the ŵŽƵƚŚƉŝĞĐĞ͕ ĮŶŐĞƌƐ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ŬĞLJƐ͕ ƚŚĞLJ ƉĂƟĞŶƚůLJ ǁĂŝƚĞĚ ƵŶƟů ƚŚĞ ďĂŶĚ ůĞĂĚĞƌ ůŽŽŬĞĚ ƵƉ͕ ͞ZĞĂĚLJ͍ ͙͟ Suddenly, as if rejuvenated by the spell of the music, the grayhaired band members would come alive with youthful exuberance, ĂĚƌŽŝƚůLJ ĐƌĞĂƟŶŐ ƐŽƵŶĚƐ ĂƐ ĨƌĞƐŚ ĂƐ musicians in their prime. On the saxophone was none other than His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Dec 15 - Jan 15 , 2014
hŶƟů ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞ ŚŽƵƌƐ ŽĨ ^ƵŶĚĂLJ morning, the King and his Au Sau Wan Suk Band members would Įůů ƚŚĞ ƐƵůƚƌLJ Ăŝƌ ŽĨ ,ƵĂ ,ŝŶ ǁŝƚŚ ƐŵŽŽƚŚ ũĂnjnj ĨƌŽŵ Ă ǁŝĚĞ ƐĞůĞĐƟŽŶ ŽĨ styles — Dixieland, New Orleans, Big ĂŶĚ ĐŚĂƌƚͲƚŽƉƉĞƌƐ Ͷ ƐŽŵĞƟŵĞƐ with an interlude of one of the <ŝŶŐ͛Ɛ ŽǁŶ ĐŽŵƉŽƐŝƟŽŶƐ͘ hŶƟů ŚŝƐ ƌĞƟƌĞŵĞŶƚ ĨƌŽŵ ƉƵďůŝĐ performance some two decades ago, the King had awed Thai audiences with cool jazz, then novel to Thai society, in a weekly radio broadcast of concerts from university and public stages that ran from the early 1950s through to the 1970s. As if a king blowing his sax for the joy of his subjects isn’t remarkable enough, His Majesty also made dŚĂŝůĂŶĚ ŝŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂůůLJ ĨĂŵŽƵƐ for his role as a highly-recognized ŵƵƐŝĐŝĂŶ͕ ƉĂƌƟĐƵůĂƌůLJ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ jazz world. His name has been listed in jazz websites and jazz encyclopedias, from the esteemed Vienna music academy in Austria to