Search - Royal City Saxophone Quartet :: Smiles & Chuckles

A Real Hoot!

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 08/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Early in the 20th century the saxophone was a fairly unfamiliar instrument in North America, having been invented in the mid-1800s by the Belgian, Adolphe Saxe, for use in French wind bands. A group consisting primarily of the Brown brothers, from an Ontario family whose father was a local musician, began forming around 1903. With varying membership, and at times consisting of all six Browns, the group toured widely and successfully into the 1930s. When they started, the sax was a novelty; by the time they quit touring, the sax was one of the essential elements in jazz and dance bands. Those of us of a certain age--and those of you who watch the Cartoon Channel--know the visceral sounds of the baritone and bass saxophone from the cartoon scores of composers like Carl Stallings and his buddies. In my case, I was imprinted on those sounds and love them still.The Royal City Saxophone Quartet from Guelph, Ontario, took it upon themselves to record many of the pieces their co-nationals, the Six Brown Brothers, recorded and made famous; this CD is the result. Using overdubbing--recording first a four-sax track and then adding the additional instruments as needed--there are 22 selections, plus a couple of bonus tracks where transfers of the original Brown Brothers recordings start a cut and are then joined seamlessly by their modern admirers, the RCSQ. Neatly done.The music here consists of rags, waltzes, marches, some 'oriental' selections--the hootchy-kootchy music all the rage back then--and some foxtrots. There are also some specialty numbers that make use of 'tricks' specific to the sax, such as 'laughing' and animal sounds. 'The Alabama Jasbo Band' is a proto-jazz number. 'Parade of the Elephants' makes use of the humorous galumphing of the bari and bass sax, both played expertly by group founder, Ernie Kalwa, who says that excessive playing of the bass sax 'makes your lip feel like a foot.' I can imagine!I grew up hearing this kind of music. Some of the 'marches' are actually polkas of the kind I learned at my local 'Bohemian Hall.' And even in the 1940s, in my rural Oklahoma area, there were bands that featured sax quartets playing much this sort of repertoire. I felt a shiver of nostalgia at hearing 'Golden Spur March' and 'The Silver Strand Waltz.' I laughed out loud at the take-off on Rachmaninoff's 'Prelude in C Sharp Minor' called 'Russian Rag.' The opening selection which gives this CD its title, 'Smiles and Chuckles,' did indeed make me smile and chuckle.A thorough delight. Highly recommended to anyone who loves the sounds of old-timey sax music.Scott Morrison"