“Mack The Knife”
Saxophone Music and Backing Track

Mack The Knife Saxophone Music

Although several big artists recorded it, the most popular and famous recording of Mack The Knife was the Bobby Darin version. Here are a few interesting facts about this great song:

• Written in 1928 in Germany, by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht for the Three Penny Opera
• Recorded by Darin in 1958 and released as a single in 1959
• Was the #1 song on the rock & roll charts in 1959
• Selected as record of the year in 1959

The fabulous band arrangement was written by Richard Wess, who also arranged many other hits for artists such as Sammy Davis Jr., Aretha Franklin, and the Drifters to name just a few.

This backing track was totally inspired by this recording and the arrangement was done to sound as close as possible to this awesome version done back in the late 50’s, in what was surely a remarkable day in the recording studio for everyone involved in the session that created real magic!

Song Key

Harmonically, it’s in the concert key of B flat major. The song modulates several times throughout going up a semi-tone each time creating a beautiful climactic ending.

For the tenor sax it starts off in the key of C major. The altos start off in the key of G major.