James Rae is a highly experienced performer in a wide range of genres for the saxophone, both solo and in ensemble. In addition to that, he is also one of Europe's most published composers of educational music with over 120 titles to his name, several of which appear in exam syllabi around the world. One of these is his Sonatina for alto saxophone which was written for Paul Summers in 2005 and it was he who first performed it in London in June of that year. It is a pastiche of two faster outer movements, with clear latin and rock references within them, framing a slow central movement in 3/4 time which strongly echoes the work of Éric Satie, as its title "Gymnopedie Bleu" suggests.
