Ibiza Sax: From sunset parties to Weddings in the UK
In today’s blog, I thought we could talk a little bit about the origins of Ibiza sax and it’s history, and how it’s come from being used as a term to describe saxophone played alongside ibiza house music, to being used as a more general term to mean saxophone played alongside a DJ (or pre-recorded tracks.)
Contents
A (very) Brief History of the Saxophone
We can’t talk about the history of ibiza sax without first mentioning a brief history of the saxophone itself. In our terms, it may seem like the saxophone is quite an old instrument, but in classical music terms, it’s actually considered one of the more modern instruments.
The saxophone was invented by a Belgian Inventor and Musician, Adolphe Sax in the early 1840s, with the patent being approved in 1846. The early history of the saxophone is filled with trials and tribulations (just like Adolphe’s life!)* - if you’re after an interesting read, The Devil’s Horn by Michael Segell is a fascinating read on the saxophone’s history!
Fun Fact: The idea of the saxophone came about when Adolphe Sax was making improvements to bass clarinets - he wanted to create something that was louder and more projective like a brass instrument, but with the agility of a woodwind instrument!
*Adolphe had numerous almost death experiences - including accidentally drinking poison, getting kidnapped, thrown in a river and a tile falling on his head. Also at his first demonstration of the saxophone, a competitor wanted to sabotage everything, so kicked it flying across the room!
The saxophone’s journey to Ibiza
Fast forward a few decades, and the saxophone’s popularity absolutely exploded in the early 20th century. From sultry jazz sounds of John Coltrane, to the speedy bebop of Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, the saxophone has travelled a long way from where it started in marching bands! It took a little while to get going, but once the public heard how versatile the sound of the saxophone could be, they fell in love with it in all genres of music!
Let’s move through the Yakety Sax era of the 60s and head to my favourite era of sax playing - the 70s and 80s! From pop players such as David Sanborn, Candy Dulfer, Dave Koz and Eric Marienthal to rock players such as Raphael Ravenscroft - famous for the soaring solo in Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street - there is a wealth of incredible sax players to listen to and admire. If you want to check out some more info on how the sax has graced pop music over the years, you can check out this awesome blog from Musika here!
As you can see, the saxophone has touched (and continues to touch) nearly every single genre of popular music over time, so it was only a matter of time before it was used alongside house and dance music in the party island of Ibiza.
A brief history of Ibiza’s party scene
In the 1960s, Ibiza was a bohemian paradise for artists of all kinds, including writers, painters and visual artists looking for a quiet place to create their work. This soon changed in the 70s and 80s, as rock and roll’s influence began to take hold.
Dance music began to take hold of the popular culture in the 80s, and truly exploded in the 90s. This led to the formation of the ‘Balearic Beat’ sound (sometimes known as Ibiza House or Ibizan Chillout.)
Bringing the Ibiza sounds to the UK
The Ibiza sound quickly spread into the UK nightclub scene through DJs such as Paul Oakenfold. Oakenfold and his friends spent his 24th Birthday on the island and brought the sounds of the ibiza dance music back with them to the UK.
The sounds of Ibiza gradually evolved throughout the 90s and early 2000s. Live music played with DJ or electronic tracks became popular thanks to musicians such as Safri Duo and their Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song) - what a tune!
Saxophone (as well as percussion) became a popular choice for adding an element of live sound and improvisation to DJ performances and events.
If I said to you “name one Ibiza Sax player”, I reckon you’d pick one of the two following names!
Saxophonists such as the Lovely Laura and the awesome Ellie Sax began to popularise the modern Ibiza Sax sound in the 2010s. Lovely Laura’s performances in particular across Ibiza and the UK have popularised the sound at club nights and festivals, and Ellie Sax is a big name in the Ibiza sax world, performing at weddings, dance events and night clubs worldwide.
Laura and Ellie have been a huge influence on my playing - you can see some epic performances from Lovely Laura here - and Ellie Sax has put on some awesome events at venues such as The Picturedrome in Holmfirth - check out her awesome promo for this here.
Not only are they both incredibly energetic sax players with fabulous careers, they’re both really hard working and happen to be lovely people too. I really admire any working musician, especially sax players, who are great at what they do and are really genuine people!
How the term ‘ibiza sax’ has changed
Ibiza sax, or Ibiza sax playing, just like Ibiza sax music has changed and evolved over the years to mean something slightly different than when it first started. Originally the term would probably have meant saxophone players playing along to the Balearic beat genre, but now has evolved to mean sax players playing along with along with DJ music in general.
For an example of what Ibiza sax means to me, check out this handy Spotify playlist I’ve got below. This is a more modern version of the sorts of tunes I would expect to play when asked to performed Ibiza Sax.
Ibiza saxophone songs:
As you can see in the playlist, it covers both the older songs such as ‘Freed From Desire’ and ‘Show Me Love’ but also more modern style pop songs such as ‘Jubel’ (often known as the ‘save me’ song 😂), ‘Mr Saxobeat’ and ‘This Girl’.
Interactive saxophone playing
One key element of the Ibiza sax sound and style is the interactivity it can provide. Originating from the performances on nightclub stages, it’s all about being involved in improvising the music during the instrumental sections and sometimes reinforcing the vocal lines in the songs.
For Weddings, Parties and Corporate events, I love getting interactive with the guests on the dance floor! For me, it’s all about getting involved in the party, getting people dancing and singing along, as well as playing some really cool lines. Quite often I’m booked as a surprise sax - so it’ll mean me jumping out from behind the DJ booth in all my sparkly gear to get the party started!
So what is Ibiza Chill?
Sometimes people use the term ‘Ibiza Sax’ interchangeably with Ibiza Chill Sax - and I’ve got an example playlist below for these sorts of tunes as well.
For me, Ibiza Chill is the kind of music you’d expect at Ibiza bars or restaurants during the daytime, or watching the sunset at the wonderful Cafe del Mar! Imagine you’ve got a cheeky cocktail in hand sitting by the poolside being serenaded whilst you sunbathe... that’s the life!
This is a popular choice for the daytime of weddings (it’s ideal for wedding breakfasts or drinks receptions if you’re a big fan of this sound!) and also for your room turnaround for sunset drinks on the terrace.
Ibiza chill songs:
As well as Ibiza Chill Sax for the daytime, I also offer sax covers of songs - this can literally just mean the saxophone playing the vocal melody of any of your favourite songs! Some of my favourites to play include ‘If I Ain’t Got You’, ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ and Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’!
I hope you’ve found this guide useful on the brief history of Ibiza sax. If you’re looking a saxophonist for your wedding or party, please feel free to contact me for a bespoke quote, or reach out with any questions you might have!
All the best,
Cat x
