Original Anthem: Star Spangled Banner
Country: USA
Style: Latin
“Samba Estralado” is a latinized version of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
The lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” were originally written during the 1812 war between the United States and Great Britain, fought over differences in the colonial settlement expansion of North America.
Ironically though, the melody is derived from a song by English composer John Stafford Smith composed in the 1770s for the Anacreontic Society, a London gentleman’s drinking club dedicated to the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, known as the “convivial bard of Athens”, who was renowned for his songs celebrating love and wine.
Resetting Stafford Smith’s melody as a light-hearted samba is perhaps closer to the convivial Anacreontic intention of the original setting! Perhaps it is also a more appropriate national anthem given today’s North American demographic!
Instrumentation
Alto sax: Charlie Hearnshaw
Piano: Chris Lee
Electric bass: Neil Todd
Drums & bell: Tony Plato
