I frequently play my sax with backing tracks in restaurants and one of my favorite "fans" kept asking me "please Randy can you possibly play Kirk Whalum's "Desperately""? If you listen to (my Hero!) Kirk's AMAZING performance on this song, you will see why the lady kept requesting it....

Kirk Whalum "Desperately"


Kirk is a musical genius for sure!

I listened and listened to the song....and it is an absolutely beautiful song for sure and typical Kirk Whalum!..... So I scoured the internet hoping to find a backing track for that song....with zero luck.... Well, after the umteenth request from this lady for that song, one day I fired up the Tyros 4 and decided to see if I could create my own backing track. At the outset, I wondered "how in the world will I ever get a a backing track to work for this song?" As we musicians know, where there is a will, there is often a way....and well, my Tyros 4 led the way! Thanks to Yamaha and their amazing sounds and a great couple styles, I was able to create my own version of "Desperately". I fudged a little on the chord progression to keep it simpler for me. But in the end, after some serious head scratching, and a lot of style auditions.... I was able to create a very usable version of the song. If you listen you'll also note that I stole the Intro from the original version before the Tyros kicks in....

Randy's Track


In the ultimate test at the restaurant, my lady friend was surprised and seemed elated when I performed "Desperately" for her.

From my perspective, thanks to Yamaha sounds and styles, I was able to get close enough to make this wonderful song part of my repertoire. This backing track is yet another reason that Yamaha will likely always be in my arsenal when I am making music!

Hope you enjoyed my "sax player's perspective" as to yet another reason why I love arrangers - and Yamaha in particular!