After Hours for Tenor Saxophone and Piano: Tenor Saxophone & Piano Book & CD

Wedgwood crafts pieces that sound genuinely sophisticated without requiring advanced technique, and the dual backing tracks on the CD solve a real pedagogical problem: learners can hear the full arrangement with melody first, then strip it away to develop independence and musicality. The marimba melody line in the full performance is a thoughtful touch that lets students develop their own voice rather than shadowing a recorded tenor sax.

After Hours invites players into a sophisticated jazz and popular-music idiom marked by swing rhythms, blues inflections, and contemporary harmonic language. The pieces maintain an intimate, relaxed character appropriate to their evening-inspired titles while offering enough harmonic and melodic interest to hold an audience's attention.

Intermediate tenor saxophone students and advancing players who want accessible yet musically rewarding repertoire with built-in learning support. Teachers seeking material that bridges the gap between method book exercises and real ensemble playing will find these pieces ideal for both lesson work and recital preparation.

• Start with the full performance track to absorb phrasing and articulation naturally before attempting to play along with the backing only version.
• Use the piano score to understand harmonic movement and the accompanist's role, even if you're primarily learning from the CD; this deepens your sense of the music's architecture.
• Listen closely to how the marimba interprets the melody in the full performance, then find your own interpretive choices when playing live against the backing track.
• Practice with the backing-only version regularly to build confidence playing independently without the written melody as a safety net.

Feature these pieces in student recitals as a contrast to classical solo work, or use them to anchor a jazz-inflected concert segment alongside other contemporary chamber music. They work equally well as lesson repertoire throughout a semester or as polished performance pieces for spring recitals.

• Swing rhythm and jazz articulation patterns
• Playing melodies with harmonic awareness
• Independence from written melody through backing-track practice
• Stylistic interpretation in jazz and popular idioms
• Collaboration with accompaniment and tracking cues