Only CDs Is Sounding Like These # 19: Brian Smith, The Moonlight Sax Collection (1993)

A new occasional series - CDs are coming back baby! And I’m here for it. BIGTIME! Also, some albums just REALLY suit the format, right

I’ve discovered — only recently — that I’m quite a fan of “Smooth Jazz”. It has a few other names, and most of them spell M-U-D in most houses, for it is the sort of jazz to give jazz a bad name, ultimately. But I’ve always been open to (almost) all forms of the genre, convinced you get something from listening; you learn. And there are certain things that border on Muzak that I FUCKING LOVE. Moonlight Sax is very high on that list!

In 1990 and 1991 Brian Smith, a Wellington-born, Auckland-based saxophonist, released his two volumes of Moonlight Sax, basically following the Piano By Candlelight format and pre-figuring Espresso Guitar. Many of the same musicians were involved in the making of all of these albums.

As a teenager, and only just by the way, I bought both albums on cassette tape. It is somewhat baffling when I think about it now, what prompted me exactly? I have to assume it was TV advertising. It was also association. My brother moved away in 1990 and came home for holidays, always armed with very cool things of the musical persuasion. A Led Zeppelin or Lou Reed compilation for Easter, some Miles and Coltrane in the winter break. I was a sponge, just soaking all of this up. And I think, thinking about it now, that I probably just went all in on Moonlight Sax because it was available to me (TV advertised, and in the shop down the road). And it had a picture of a saxophone on it. I knew it wasn’t John Coltrane, but I figured it was connected. (You couldn’t get Coltrane in the shop down the road in the town where I lived!)

And, look, I was right. In the end. Because I found out that Brian Smith was no damn slouch. In fact he’d moved to the UK to ‘make it big’ or whatever and had played as a member of Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated. This was a band that featured in almost everything I read about music for a time, because the alumni of this unit included Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Jack Bruce, Graham Bond, and Cyril Davies. Among others. And then of course Bond would go off and make his own group, with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, and that would lead to the formation of Cream. And so on. And on. If it wasn’t because of Alexis Korner or Graham Bond, it was usually because of John Mayall. And I was a disciple of all of this at the time. Did I mention that I was a sponge?

Anyway, Smith had been in the band, and he’d played with Maynard Ferguson — and he was a big deal to me, because I had a tape of him and Buddy Rich playing together. So, yeah, it was all associations.

The music of Moonlight Sax is misty-eyed, and features Kenny G’s big hit, Songbird and instrumental versions of Billy Joel cheese (Just The Way You Are, and Scenes From An Italian Restaurant) and themes from the TV show Moonlighting and Beauty and The Beast. And you might seriously be wondering why I am writing about this here, and not over where I talk about “crap albums” I love:

But the thing is, I feel absolutely no guilt about loving Moonlight Sax. And never did. If anything, I think it might make me awesome.

You see, I used to listen to this as very much a Jazz With Trainer Wheels album, and it helped me to learn about the genre, and to dig deep — and I went really deep. It also helped me to appreciate session musicians, and jobbing players, that need to make a crust and have to give over to the marketing. I bought a Brian Smith album on vinyl, as a result of listening to the Moonlight Sax cassettes. And it was there that I really heard that he could blow!

Anyway, flash forward to my final year in high school. I’m in the school’s jazz band, and we’re on the bill over in Napier with one Brian Smith. He’s visiting from Auckland to play at the jazz club. We’re opening the show. We are playing a big band arrangement of Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love. I can’t remember anything else we played, but it was a set of about ten tunes. We play the set, and we do okay. And then most of the kids leave. But I’m staying on to see Brian Smith. He’s at the bar ordering a drink, and I go up to try to get served — underage but it’s worth a shot. I am thinking of telling him that I love the Moonlight Sax albums. But I’m not sure I should. I get served a bourbon and coke, which I barely drink. And I really hope I am not mis-remembering this at all, because this is the memory I have: Brian Smith turns to me and says, “Hey, nice work kid. Good drumming”.

I say, thanks. And then spit out quickly, “I’m a huge fan of your Moonlight Sax albums”. And Smith says thanks, but almost raises an eyebrow, like he either doesn’t believe me or thinks I’m maybe being a bit cheeky. But I wasn’t. I meant it. I really meant it. And I drove home that night after my half a bourbon and joke, my heart and head filled with jazz. And a compliment! A compliment from a guy who might have even played on a bill or on the same stage as Ginger Bloody Baker!

When I was at university, I bought The Moonlight Sax Collection, the double CD that was made of both of the cassette tapes. I was very careful about such items. I didn’t like having those sorts of double-albums in my collection where it was a 2-for-1. I liked the bargain, but hated the shrunken artwork. But The Moonlight Sax Collection was different. A new cover to encapsulate the combining of the two albums. It was basically a long-play double, or “Greatest Hits”. All of it basically More Of The Same. And I loved it. It was study music at uni, I’d put it on when writing an essay. That and Jean Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield and one or two other things were the staples.

Anyway, I still have the Smith vinyl but I had ditched the Sax compilation many, erm, moons ago. But I’m diving full bore into nostalgia right now. I’m shaking its clammy hand and reintroducing myself with a smile. So, the other week, I found The Moonlight Sax Collection at the tip shop. Just the place for it, you’re no doubt thinking — that joke writes itself. But yes, $1 very well spent. I’ve been playing it a bunch. So good to have this again.

And if anyone knows Mr Brian Smith, I always wanted to interview him. I know he’s retired now. I should have reached out to him when the podcast was in full swing. So please send him this, or my regards, or both. And yeah. I’m totally sincere. About all of this. I love these albums.