Veeesax’s “Heart of Worship” is a Pristine, Crafty Body of Work

By Emmanuel Daraloye

Released across all digital streaming platforms on July 13, 2024, Veeesax’s first music release in about eight months, his first in 2024 marks a turning point for the Saxophonist.

With support from arrays of vocalists, backup singers, producers, and instrumentalists, they all combine to make a sumptuous meal that would likely be talked about for years to come.

In the last decade, saxophonists have regained their place in the industry; from appearing on songs to now creating their song, there is no bound to their current creative voyage.

Life’s Journey, a two-track extended play, marks my introduction to Veeesax, real name Victor Ajayi; the free-flowing project finds him exploring Jazz and soul alongside some African elements. On this new project, he seems to have embraced his African essence more.

Heart of Worship as a title is a thoughtful titling, more likely to elicit some pondering from whoever hears it. Veeesax smartly sticks to this in the forty minutes plus plays with his saxophone, doing most of the magic with the backup singer swiftly tagging along.

“Praise Unusual,” the longest song on this project, starts with a solo sax by Veeesax; he was later joined by the backup singer who echoes the lyrics of the song, more or less a refrain; this makes it more lovely. Most of the songs he blew saxophone to were the common songs around, the ones sung around churches and other religious gatherings.

One beautiful thing about a session with Veeesax is the excitement among his co-creators; this seeps into the performance, with no dull moment as things get busy with the music session stretching between songs, hymns, and moments.

Veeesax’s innate ability to blend sound and leverage his creator’s skill and talent to score a classy music session is commendable. By the time the song reaches the nineteen-minute, nine-second mark, the listeners would have sweat out. Just like the name states, Praise Unusual is just Veeesax and his co-creators doing the eccentric, gingering the audience to worship God and dwell in his glory; it is a fun way of worship.

While the opening track was upbeat, the follow-up track tethered towards the solemn route. It is the typical worship type of song, with the Saxophone and the cymbals being the most dominant instrument in the song. The saxophone is mostly in tune as it aligns with the cymbals and snares with the singer maneuvering the sax. By the two-minute mark, the backup singer’s voice can be heard, refraining from the belted notes; unlike the first track, this one is more mellow, down, and calm.

On the twelve minutes plus last track “My Devotion to Him,” Veeesax combines the framework of the first and last track. He mixes it, fine-tunes it, and gives it back to the listeners. He starts on a mellow note, then, as the song progresses, things take a wider shape; he switches between songs, likewise the tempo with the snare, baseline, and bass being the foundation of the production.

Eight months break from music release, just like he never left, Veeesax has been able to give a good account of his break. The month of practice, the tenacity and the perseverance expended on his craft shows on this EP.

As they say, art matures with age, and this is the same with the artiste; as he grows old, he matures more in his sound fluidity. As the world looks forward to the elusive debut album, Veeesax has pristinely delivered this appetizer, a good one at that; surely, the main meal would be sumptuous.