#83 Elated Nation - A Joyful Original Composition For Saxes & Percussion

Instead of the usual free online sax lesson, I've got something a bit different for you this week. I'm often asked where people can hear me perform (it's nice to hear your teacher actually play I guess), and as nobody can perform anywhere right now in this Covid world pandemic I've brought a performance to you right here on the channel instead!

I used play in a saxophone ensemble called Saxtet - a five saxophone group playing original compositions and arrangements. Recently, Karen Street emailed me to see if I had some missing parts for some of the tunes and I had a good rifle through my old Saxtet folder. This made me remember some of the original compositions I had done for the group and seeing as the current Covid 19 situation has put the kibosh on playing together I thought I'd record something myself instead!

I chose a tune that was originally called "Captain Elation" and re-named it "Elated Nation" (I never liked my original title anyway! lol) There's a lot of challenge in the world right now and I figured we could all use some uplifting and joyful music. Also, I've always wanted to hear it with two baritones cranking out the main riff, and the opportunity was too good to pass up. What a sound!

Inspired by the tune "The Holy Men" by the World Saxophone Quartet, this composition is supposed to evoke the spirit of unification and joyful celebration of a Nation enjoying a special day. Whether it be a carnival, independence day, national holiday or just a one off street party to commemorate a special sporting event or success, everyone has laid aside their petty everyday differences to party together and enjoy life to the max. I'd love YOU to let it all go for a few minutes and have a jump around as well!

However, just because it's a performance week it doesn't mean you can't learn a thing or two from this composition so go ahead and pick up your free PDF score for Elated Nation, which is in concert pitch AND transposed pitch. In other words, if you play the concert pitch score on the piano it will sound at the same pitch as the video, but if you want to play along with the recording, get the right sax and just play the right line from the transposed score. A concert pitch score is great for looking at the voicings of chords and studying the composition, whereas the transposed score is perfect for playing with for fun or practice.

If you play in a sax group and you're interested in performing this piece, just email me at [email protected] and I'll see what we can do about getting you the parts.

I shot the parts on a green screen so that I could edit myself all over the place. The flags used at the start (Spain, USA, Scotland, India, Brazil, Kenya, the UK and Mexico) are all places that I've lived or played and associate with the spirit of the music. I also cut in footage of various ecstatic celebrations to get us all fired up and happy. Joy is infectious!

Whether you wanna get into the nitty gritty of the composition by playing along and studying how I've composed it, or whether you just want to celebrate life and dance along to the music, I hope you enjoy Elated Nation! Next week it's back to business as usual with a great lesson on Jazz Articulation.

Jamie :-)

P.S. Full Time stamps for the video and a complete transcript are included below.

Video Timestamps

0:00 - Intro and titles

0:28 - about my "Elated Nation" Composition

1:47 - how to get the free PDF score

2:02 - how to get your free one hour masterclass

2:34 - ELATED NATION PERFORMANCE

8:14 - sign off and end music

Video Transcript 

Hi, I’m pro saxophonist Jamie Anderson and you’re watching Get Your Sax Together. I sax up your Sunday every week with technique and improvising tips, player profiles and, of course, my famous breakdowns of the world’s best loved sax lines. I know some of you just wanna hear me play sometimes, so this week I’ll be performing one of my own compositions for five saxes and percussion.

[TITLE MUSIC]

This composition is called Elated Nation and in a former incarnation it was a piece we used to do with the group Saxtet. We all used to have a great time playing it, except for our baritone player Andy - the b-line is relentless on this one, then just when the end is in sight there’s two difficult solo baritone breaks to deal with. Well, the joke’s on me now, cos it’s me that has to deal with that today! lol The instrumentation is two altos, tenor and baritone, with the fifth part alternating between tenor and baritone. I always wanted the main riff to have the dirty chug of two baritones but it was never possible for logistical reasons. I’ve also been able to add percussion parts which was never possible in the tune’s original live format. I’ve called it Elated Nation as the image that comes to mind for me is that of a people united in celebration, everyone’s day to day petty squabbles forgotten in a national day of celebration. It could be an annual festival like carnival or an independence day, or it could be a great sporting triumph like winning the world cup or a small underdog nation winning a medal at the Olympics against all the odds. Whatever it is, and whatever country it is, the emotion is one of unbounded joy, with everyone dancing in the streets and feeling united in their celebration - all everyday divisions, hardships and rivalries forgotten. I think the world could probably do with a bit more of that vibe right now. If you wanna see what’s going on with this composition, I’m giving away the score, in concert AND transposed pitch, for FREE. Just go to the link in the description to get your PDF copy. If you want to play this with a sax ensemble you’ve got, just get in touch and I’ll arrange getting you the parts. Finally, remember to check out my free one hour Saxophone Success Masterclass. It’s suitable for saxophonists of ANY standard, and it’s jam packed with pro tips and loads of invaluable information to help you transform your tone, timing and technique. Just go to link in the description, or you can visit double-u double-u double-u dot get your sax together dot com, forward slash masterclass. Right, I think that’s the parish notices wrapped up, so forget your worries for a few minutes, crank up the volume, have a dance if you feel like it, and I hope you enjoy Elated Nation.

[SONG PERFORMANCE]

So that’s it for this Sunday, I really appreciate you watching and supporting this channel and I really hope you enjoyed Elated Nation. If you’re anything like my wife Mel you even got up and danced like nut bag! lol If you wanna learn some more in-depth sax stuff go to double-u double-u double-u dot get your sax together dot com, forward slash masterclass to get your free one hour lesson with me and you can support me by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, click the bell icon and check out my Insta and Facebook pages. Next Sunday you’ll be learning the basics of jazz articulation, but until then, practice smart, look after each other, and happy saxing. See ya!

[ROLL END TITLES]