Band Director News April 2010

Hello!

We hope you are all doing well. There have been several great new additions to our catalog that we'd like to tell you about below. This year we're going to focusing on releasing as much Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans material as we can physically produce. We're just about to release Gerry's arrangement of Jeru as recorded by Claude Thornhill (it should be ready to go in the next week or so). We're also working on a fantastic arrangement he did for Gene Krupa's band: If You Were the Only Girl (in the World). We should have this one available by the end of the month. There are many others we're working on including material from the Concert Jazz Band.

One of the other arrangers that we're focusing on this year is Gil Evans. Previously we released Anthropology, Arab Dance, Boplicity, Jambangle, Moon Dreams (big band and nonet), Robbins' Nest, and Yardbird Suite. To that collection we have just added Blues for Pablo as arranged for and recorded by the Miles Davis/Gil Evans Orchestra. Like the other Gil Evans arrangements we've published, this is based on the original score and has been authorized by his estate. We're planning on releasing other Evans arrangements done for Miles Davis as well as material arranged for his own groups and Claude Thornhill.

In our Harry James series we have added some interesting new arrangements. Arranger Jack Matthias put together two neat arrangements of Debussy piano pieces for the Harry James Orchestra to record and perform live. Arabesque and Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque) were arranged to feature Harry's big band lineup with the addition of strings. Arabesque was recorded but not initially released due to the length. At over 4 minutes long it would not fit on a single side of a 78 record. And, it was too short to justify splitting onto two sides of a record. So, it wasn't until the last 10 years that this recording was finally released. Clair de Lune was not recorded as far as we know. We had original parts and scores to these arrangements and have engraved them and made them available for bands to perform. These both make great dance or performance pieces.

As always, please feel free to email or phone us with comments or suggestions. We have a lot of great releases of historic arrangements planned for this year. Our mission will remain to restore and preserve America's musical heritage.

Best Regards,
Rob and Doug
www.ejazzlines.com

SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF NEW ARRANGEMENTS ADDED IN MARCH 2010 AND APRIL 2010:

JERU [AS RECORDED BY CLAUDE THORNHILL / ARRANGED BY GERRY MULLIGAN]
The period from 1948-9 was a time of experimenting and discovering for the young Gerald Mulligan. Encouraged by Gil Evans to move to New York, Mulligan not only became a mainstay at Evans' 55th Street apartment, but acquired a mentor in Evans, who encouraged Mulligan by getting him work writing for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. Mulligan was one of the group of musicians who developed and wrote for what would become the Miles Davis Nonet. Except for Venus De Milo, Mulligan not only arranged his own compositions for the small ensemble, but wrote versions of them for big bands led by Thornhill or fellow Philadelphian Elliot Lawrence. This is Gerry's fantastic chart of his tune Jeru as recorded by Claude Thornhill.

BLUES FOR PABLO [AS RECORDED BY THE MILES DAVIS/GIL EVANS ORCHESTRA / ARRANGED BY GIL EVANS]
Blues for Pablo was originally written for Hal McKusick for inclusion on his Jazz Workshop LP recorded in 1956. Evans mixes an idea in minor with a blues in major, and the effect is pure Gil Evans. His treatment of this piece for Davis' album is identical in form to the McKusick version, but is in a different key, and of course is set for a larger ensemble. Despite a large brass ensemble of five trumpets, four trombones (including a bass trombone) and tuba, he used four reeds, of which only one was a saxophone. The other reeds are flutes and bass clarinet. Please note that there is no piano part for this arrangement, and none should be added. This edition hues closely to what Evans originally wrote as we have used the original score as the basis.

ARABESQUE [RECORDED BY HARRY JAMES / ARRANGED BY JACK MATTHIAS]
The instrumentation of this arrangement was for single strings, four reeds, six brass including James, and rhythm section, suggesting that the setting was made early in 1941. By the time of the August 4, 1941 recording of Arabesque, James had added another trumpet to the orchestra, but did not alter the orchestration of this piece; perhaps he recorded it as an afterthought. There are no surviving airchecks of 'Arabesque,' and the Columbia recording was never issued most likely due to the length of the recording (at 4:16 this was too long to fit on a single side of a record at the time).

CLAIR DE LUNE [WRITTEN FOR HARRY JAMES / ARRANGED BY JACK MATTHIAS]
It appears that chief arranger Jack Matthias arranged this title, along with Debussy's Arabesque, for the Harry James Orchestra (with strings). The original score of Clair de Lune exists, and was used to prepare this edition; unfortunately, there is no name on the score, and no extant parts. The score is filled with note errors, suggesting that the arrangement was prepared in a hurry; perhaps it was one of the first batch of scores created when the string section was added to the James band. This score was never recorded and there are no airchecks available. So, we're to assume that this arrangement was written as a waltz dance piece. At this tempo the arrangement comes in at 3:30 - the maximum time a recording could be and still fit on a single side of a 78 record. This is one of the most famous pieces of music ever written and will surely be a hit at your next concert or dance engagement.

PUSSY WILLOW [RECORDED BY TOMMY DORSEY / ARRANGED BY BILL FINEGAN]
Written and arranged in 1946 by Bill Finegan for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Pussy Willow was a really progressive chart for its time, and hints at the sort of writing style that Finegan would later employ with the Sauter-Finegan band.

QUANDO, QUANDO, QUANDO [RECORDED BY MICHAEL BUBLE]
This is an adapted arrangement by Cy Payne of the Michael Buble/Nelly Furtado relaxed number from the 'It's Time' album. This chart keeps to the same key, duet layout, and feel of the original version, but, with carefully added phrased muted brass, sax backings and fills, plus a written out lyrical alto solo as well as optional synth strings. Features alto saxophone.

MY PRAYER [RECORDED BY GLENN MILLER]
My Prayer is a typically sweet Glenn Miller vocal from his early years, transcribed by Alan Glasscock. This was recorded in August 1939. Saxes are scored CAATT, with tenor 1 doubling clarinet in the intro. The chart has been adapted to a big band lineup of 8 brass, from the original 6, and Miller's cameo solo (at the end of the first chorus) has been written on the trombone 1 part. The vocal key is F, and it suits a tenor voice. However, an optional solo trombone part has been included that allows you to perform this chart as a trombone feature rather than a vocal.

For those of you who may not be familiar with us, we'd like to take a minute and provide some background information about our band director services. We recognize that you have many choices of where you may order music from, so we have tried to assemble the most complete and user-friendly online jazz big band arrangement catalog available. We carry over 5,500 arrangements from publishers located all over the world. We also have an educational program to provide our vast jazz catalog at discounted prices. All school band directors are automatically enrolled in our program and there is no miminum order to receive discounts. In addition, you may complete purchase orders directly on our website without the need of a credit card. For more information about our educational program, please email (mail@ejazzlines.com) or phone us.

If you're hunting for some great jazz band arrangements you may view titles on our website by any of the following criteria: