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This piece was commissioned in 1954 by Sigurd Rascher and was originally scored for solo saxophone and piano. Its beautifully simplistic, song-like melody is reminiscent of an African-American spiritual, and my arrangement – which puts the accompaniment into the hands of the string quartet – brings an added layer of richness and colour to the composer’s luscious harmonies. This recording was part of a live appearance on BBC Radio Scotland’s Classics Unwrapped with Jamie MacDougall in November 2021.

This is an elegant setting of this well-loved jazz standard, with constant interplay between the members of the ensemble. The arranger creates interesting variations on the initial theme throughout, weaving the saxophone and strings together and making the most of Gershwin's luscious harmonies. We are grateful to David Meldrum for this live recording of our performance in St John’s Cathedral, Oban in November 2021, part of our ‘Atypical Romance’ tour across the Inner Hebrides.

Inspired by my previous work on the Flute Partita BWV 1013, I decided to undertake another one of Bach’s legendary solo works – this time on the alto saxophone. This is my own transcription of J.S. Bach's Partita for Violin No. 3 BWV 1006, recorded at home during the first UK Covid-19 lockdown in May 2020. This was originally recorded for a "Together at Home" online concert in partnership with Live Music Now Scotland.

Completed in 2002, this duo explores the similarities between the two single-reed siblings, seamlessly blending their sounds together and making use of their virtuosic capabilities to create unique textures. The music follows a traditional four movement sonata form, but is also heavily influenced by more modern forms of music – reflecting the varied and contrasting histories of both instruments.

These pieces were written in 2011, inspired by four short Japanese poems. Báez makes full use of the capabilities the saxophone and guitar to capture the imagery used in each poem, vividly bringing the text to life. A translation of each poem can be found in the description on SoundCloud - special thanks to Long Okada for translating the text as well as reading these poems on the recording.