A few weeks ago I was having a discussion with a friend (a non-sax player), about the sax/sex connection. She had never noticed how the saxophone is used in modern TV productions and movies.
Until we started talking about it, she had never really thought about how the saxophone is used to convey sensuality and/or sexuality. I suspect other people are well aware of the connection. Performers and record producers have, of course, been cashing in on this sax/sex connection for decades.
I have written about a number of these albums already, and have tried to capture how the albums and their art work have evolved with our changing society. For example, there are the subtle Bobby Dukoff albums, titillating Fausto Papetti covers—that have evolved over the decades—and the in-your-face Saxual Dreams cover, that is anything but subtle.
This morning I happened to come across a series of smooth jazz recordings under the title Sensuous Sax.
Source: CUPIDS MUSIC AND MORE on eBay.com
Featuring a sax player called Le Valedon, Sensuous Sax is a collection of 10+ CDs put out by Peter Pan Records. Peter Pan Records is a direct descendant of the Synthetic Plastics Company—a company that “began in the late 1920’s as a plastic manufacturer for the garment industry”.1
Getting back to the Sensuous Sax series, I’m not sure how many of these albums actually were made. Peter Pan Records is currently in the process of restoring the legacy music from their vaults to make it available for download. Therefore, the album listings on their website are not complete, but Internet searches have turned up a number of other albums in the series.
The following is certainly not the complete Sensuous Sax series, but it will give you an idea of how prolific Le Valedon was.
Sources: peterpanmusic.net and Abunda Trade on eBay.com
The album covers are not particularly original. The first one looks like a Top Gun rip off. The rest? Well they’re all just the same thing recycled over, and over, and over, again and again.
Are you curious yet what this music sounds like, and who Le Valedon is? Well I was, so I did some sleuthing and was able to find quite a few sample clips on Amazon.com.
I also found a few videos that people have posted to YouTube featuring his music, including the following love “letter”.
I wanted to find out more about the sax player Le Valedon, so I did a Google search. Surprisingly enough, or maybe not, although I found lots of references to the Sensual Sax recordings, I found nothing about the man (?) himself. How can someone who is so prolific, be so invisible at the same time?
Le Valedon has no website, no MySpace site, no anything. In a world of social media gone mad, how could this guy be a ghost?
I don’t know about you, but this music doesn’t put me in the mood. If I was on a date and Sensuous Sax was on, it would be like jumping into a cold shower.
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1 Home page Peter Pan Music.
@ Theo: No, I’ve not seen any photos of Le Valedon on the ‘Net. I’m sure the name is an alias. (Maybe someone who doesn’t want their name associated with the recordings?) :devil1:
@ leonAzul: Good eye. After listening to a number of tunes on YouTube, I was so unimpressed, that I had no interest in looking into any further CDs. I just assumed they were all by Le Valedon. So brand name players lent their skills to this collection too? Interesting. As you say, a gig’s a gig. And a $150 session is as good as another.
Hi Helen,
It might also be a case of deceptive packaging. Looking at the covers, nowhere does it say that Le Valedon plays the sax, only that Le Valedon is the performer, which could also mean the name of the ensemble.
I strongly suspect that these are compilations of background music tracks released under a producer’s pseudonym of “Le Valedon.”
Peace,
paul
I’m pretty sure they are not all the same sax player. Night Out credits Grover Washington, Jr. and Bernard Watt, for example.
I suspect these were originally recorded as “elevator music” (a gig’s a gig) and then someone had the brilliant idea 💡 of repackaging them for the late night TV market.
:saxy:
Hi Helen,
I can imagine that serious jazz player would not like to have Sensual Sax on their discografy, mixing with all serious jazz recordings.
It is possible that le Valedon is an alias.
Have you seen any pictures of him on the net?
For the simularity in name I would look first in the direction of Joe Lovano.
But his sound is too different,……. maybe Johny Griffin?