Description
Sax on the Beach
Sax on the Beach-Alto Sax Performance (Funky Version)
Sax on the Beach-Alto Sax Performance (Latin Jazz Version)
Level: Intermediate
About Sax on the Beach
Sax on the Beach was composed in 2016 whilst oh holiday at Sawtell Beach, New South Wales, Australia. We rented a little cabin looking over the beautiful blue waters and sandy beach and the Summer sun was pelting down-exactly how I like my weather! Each morning my wife and I would walk from our cabin up into the surrounding cliffs and then bare-footed back down along the full length of the beach.
We’d stop for a coffee and a muffin and then meander our way back through the quaint little village shops and meet up with other friends that we had joined up with for the holiday break. Often I’d scribble a piece or two down in a manuscript book I carried about with me and that’s what I did one morning and the result was “Sax on the Beach”. In 2024 I wrote a set of solo suites for clarinet and/or saxophone, the year before a set of clarinet duets and so forth.
In 2018 I made an entire album using the concept of “Sax on the Beach” which can be found on Apple Music or on various streaming platforms. https://music.apple.com/au/album/sax-on-the-beach/1702576817
The Piece
This arrangement of “Sax on the Beach” has been written so that it can work with two different styles of backing track-Latin Jazz or Funky. The melody is composed in the instrumental style of 1970-80s artists such as Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, Spyro Gyra and George Benson. The written solos for the soloist and pianist are similar to those that were recorded on the “Sax on the Beach” album, only simplified here and there to make them more accessible to student-level players without losing the feel of and spirit of the original solos.
Andy Firth (Jan 2026)
This product is available for Clarinet, Alto or Tenor Saxes and comes with mp3 performance & backing tracks (Latin Jazz and Funky versions)
Duration: circa 3 mins
Range: Standard
