Instrumentation: Big Band

STYLE
DIFFICULTY
VOCALS
PERFORMER
SOLOS
    • Solos
    • Clarinet
    • Tenor
    • Trumpet
    • Trombone
    • Piano

    Man From Mars

    as performed by the Artie Shaw Orchestra
    $80
    Man From Mars is an uptempo puncher with some slick solo spots and cool riffs for each section. A little intricate for a level 3, but not quite as demanding as a level 4, this piece swings hard and ends with a bang.
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Swing Era
    Level 3
    TEMPO quarter note = 230
    Trumpet
    Range
    D6
    • Solos
    • Alto
    • Tenor
    • Trombone
    • Piano

    Flying the Coop

    as performed by the Chubby Jackson Big Band
    $80
    A huge fanfare-ish intro announces this amazing Tiny Kahn tune, and Flying the Coop is quickly off to the races. Unison sax and brass lines at a breakneck tempo fill the head, while the meat of the arrangement features big bebop statements, sax solos, and an old-fashioned trombone chase (an early teaming of JJ Johnson and Kai Winding).
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Bebop
    Level 5
    TEMPO half note = 123
    Trumpet
    Range
    D6
  • I See Christmas

    as performed by the Beantown Swing Orchestra
    $95
    An original song off the 2011 Beantown Swing Orchestra album A Beantown Christmas, I See Christmas is a love letter in a holiday setting with full Nelson Riddle-inspired ensemble work. The first vocal intro is in duet with piano, and after that it swings hard all the way to the end!
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Pop Jazz
    Level 4
    Vocals Male
    TEMPO quarter note = 120
    Trumpet
    Range
    Eb6
    • Solos
    • Clarinet
    • Tenor
    • Trombone

    Diga Diga Doo

    as performed by the Artie Shaw Orchestra
    $80
    Diga Diga Doo was a heavily covered tune in the 1920s and '30s, but Artie Shaw's version was one of the tightest. A hard swinging and nimble riff vehicle that has some room for solos as well, Diga is a great upbeat piece that isn't too tricky and has lots of fun moments! Saxes configured as CAATT.
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Swing Era
    Level 3
    TEMPO quarter note = 205
    Trumpet
    Range
    Eb6
    • Solos
    • Trumpet

    Christmas Land

    as performed by the Beantown Swing Orchestra
    $95
    An original song off the 2011 Beantown Swing Orchestra album A Beantown Christmas, "Christmas Land" is a light-hearted, swinging tune about the magical world of fun and happiness where all things Christmas are created. There are several solo spaces for trumpet and some great swinging ensemble parts reminiscent of Nelson Riddle's work for Frank Sinatra.
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Pop Jazz
    Level 4
    Vocals Female
    TEMPO quarter note = 124
    Trumpet
    Range
    Eb6
    • Solos
    • Clarinet
    • Tenor
    • Trumpet

    O Holy Night

    as performed by the Beantown Swing Orchestra
    $95
    From the Beantown Swing Orchestra 2011 holiday album A Beantown Christmas, what starts as a traditional-sounding orchestral jazz arrangement of the Christmas classic warps into a Duke Ellington style R&B swinger. Reflective and introspective moments balance against soulful bluesy cries in this powerhouse arrangement that has a little something for everyone.
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Swing Era
    Level 4
    Vocals Male
    TEMPO quarter note = 65
    Trumpet
    Range
    Eb6
    • Solos
    • Clarinet
    • Trumpet
    • Trombone

    King Porter Stomp

    as performed by the Benny Goodman Orchestra
    $80
    When Benny Goodman hired Fletcher Henderson, he turned the band's sound upside down, ushering in a new era of popular music. King Porter Stomp is demonstrative of the Henderson arranging style and is truly a Swing Era anthem. Solo space for several instruments, lots of tight ensemble work, and a roaring finish at the perfect dancing tempo makes this a quintessential piece in any big band's library!
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Swing Era
    Level 4
    TEMPO quarter note = 184
    Trumpet
    Range
    Eb6
    • Solos
    • Alto

    A Form of Art

    as performed by the Danny Fratina Jazz Orchestra
    $95
    A Form of Art is a wild alto sax feature filled with the vocabulary of Duke Ellington and Paul Gonsalves. This is a frenetic, crescendoing rhythm changes tune featuring the alto soloing throughout. It's purely an improvisation vehicle; there is no melody for the alto to play. You must have an alto saxophone player in your band who is comfortable keeping the energy up across one long extended solo.
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Swing Era
    Level 4
    TEMPO quarter note = 220
    Trumpet
    Range
    Eb6
    • Solos
    • Tenor
    • Trumpet
    • Piano
    • Drums

    Swingin’ the Blues

    as performed by Count Basie and His Orchestra
    $80
    This early Count Basie barn burner absolutely crushes on the blues, with catchy section work, a killer shout chorus, and solo space for both tenors and two trumpets. Starting small up front in the key of C, this arrangement builds up with great riffs, a Durham/Lunceford style chromatic modulation, and a massive shout chorus in two parts.
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Swing Era
    Level 3
    TEMPO quarter note = 225
    Trumpet
    Range
    Eb6
    • Solos
    • Tenor
    • Bari
    • Trumpet
    • Trombone
    • Piano

    Why Not

    as performed by the Chubby Jackson Big Band
    $80
    This Tiny Kahn chart is very consistent throughout with great lines and moving harmony. Filled with plenty of solo space around the band and some killin' trumpet lines, there are brief bursts of shout chorus pieces that build up past the final head out. Why Not is tough on the lead trumpet but worth the challenge.
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Bebop
    Level 4
    TEMPO quarter note = 165-185
    Trumpet
    Range
    Eb6
    • Solos
    • Trumpet
    • Guitar

    Ruined

    as performed by the Danny Fratina Jazz Orchestra
    $95
    Ruined is a funky chamber jazz tune with feature space for guitar and trumpet. It starts with saxes only with no rhythm section, adding in trombones, then trumpets, before building into a guitar solo. The trumpet solo gets some space over trombone chorale before the rhythm section jumps back in, and it ends with a dismantling of each section until nothing is left but the five saxes. Each horn player keeping good time is critical for this composition, but the reward is a lush and exciting groove-based piece.
    Instrumentation Big Band
    Style Modern Jazz
    Level 4
    TEMPO half note = 90
    Trumpet
    Range
    E6

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