December 2009

December 2009 Holiday Newsletter

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Hello again from ejazzlines!

Let us start off by using this most appropriate time to thank everyone once again for making 2009 our best year to date. We have worked hard to adapt to the economic times and to broaden our offerings, and we could not be more grateful for the response we have received. Rest assured that 2010 will see our very own Jazz Lines Publications label continue to grow, and along with this, we intend to continue to offer the very best selection of charts, jazz and jazz-related DVDs, songbooks, and method/theory guides available anywhere. Your support humbles us, and at this time of year, we wish to send our warmest holiday regards and our most sincere thanks to everyone who continues to help us to grow and prosper. Thank you folks, from the US to Japan, from England to Russia, from South Africa to Chile, from Australia to Turkey - we are blessed to have such a magnificent customer base all over the world, and we appreciate all of you.

It is hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close, and that ejazzlines is now enjoying our 9th holiday season. Things change every year, as our business continues to mature and evolve, but one constant which will always remain is us offering the jazz fan a wonderful selection of potential gift items, for fans of all styles and genres, ranging from brand new items to many classics. We encourage everyone to see what we have to offer, and if at all possible, we respectfully ask everyone to order as soon as you can, as we never want to disappoint anyone during this blissful season.

Just in time for a holiday concert, we have recently published Gil Evans' incredible Arab Dance based on the Arabian Dance from Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker' (See below for more info). In addition, we have just rolled out today the fourteenth chart in our popular Supersax series, Shaw 'Nuff. We will continue to make more of Med Flory's amazing charts available, and the rest of our Jazz Lines Publications series will also be augmented by many new and exciting titles in 2010.

The Jazz Education Network continues its outreach, and we have finalized our place as an exhibitor for their first convention, to be held in St. Louis, MO, May 20-22. Their website is www.jazzednet.org and we heartily encourage everyone who enjoyed the incredible IAJE conventions to do what you can to attend this one.

This week is an especially impressive one for jazz birthdays. Dave Brubeck turned 89 Sunday the 6th, and Jimmy Smith's birthday is in fact today. The great trumpeter Donald Byrd turns 77 tomorrow, and the inimitable Alfred McCoy Tyner turns 71 on Friday. The late Tony Williams would have been 64 this Saturday, and he shares a birthday with ejazzlines' favorite vocalist, Frank Sinatra. Finally, we send a special birthday greeting to one of the eminent jazz bassists of the last half-century, Mr. Bob Cranshaw. Bob's pulsing grooves are often heard resonating through our offices on Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley discs, and we are lucky enough to have met the kind gentleman on several occasions; he could not be more gracious. Bob turns 77 this Thursday, and we wish him a very happy birthday and a fantastic holiday season. For those of you who dont own Lee Morgan's Sidewinder and Hank Mobley's Caddy for Daddy, first of all, shame on you! Bob helps make these discs two of the true gems of the hard bop era.

For those of you who like to keep up with new jazz releases, below are some items that you may wish to know about.

We once again thank everyone for your support - it is especially appreciated at this time of year!

Rob and Doug at ejazzlines

FEATURED NEW DVDs: Among the very best holiday gifts we could suggest would be the new Jazz Icons Series 4 DVDs. We have each individual release, along with the Boxed Set, which comes with a special bonus disc unavailable separately. We have a brand new tour-de-force drum DVD from Rick Latham. And in our continuing effort to provide for the musician who wishes to be as well-rounded as possible, we have a new live DVD from John Stowell, and instructional DVDs teaching the music of Brian Setzer and Jimmy Page. ALL DECEMBER 2009 DVDs ALL NOVEMBER 2009 DVDs
BEN WEBSTER: TENOR SAX LEGEND Available for the first time on this DVD are 4 rare programs filmed in Europe between 1965 and 1971 featuring Ben in 3 concerts and one documentary. Three concerts from the archives of Danish TV show Ben in a variety of settings - with a trio, a big band and playing in front of a large string ensemble. The classic 1971 documentary Big Ben is highlighted by rare intimate moments with Ben, one of the few times he talked openly about his career.	CHOPS: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC! In the tradition of Rocky, CHOPS is the story about a scrappy group of high school jazz musicians that take on the best bands in the country at the prestigious Essentially Ellington Festival at the Lincoln Center in New York. Jam packed with outstanding performances, CHOPS will make you admire the dedication of these teenagers as they proudly watch the culmination of their hard work: an electrifying festival performance where the students realize no matter how much one prepares, sometimes life, like jazz, calls for improvisation. Inspired by the entire community of jazz musicians, the students humbly recognize the honor of carrying on the legacy of the masters.
BILL FRISELL: BLUES DREAM LIVE Bill Frisell is in constant demand worldwide because he invests his playing with such strong intention. His diverse musical concepts embrace everything from blues, gospel, worksongs and country music to jazz, rock and even pop. Now see him live performing live for a jazz experience like no other!	GEORGE BENSON: SONGS AND STORIES This package is a specially priced 2-disc set consisting of Songs and Stories on compact disc mixed in traditional stereo AND a bonus DVD, containing mixes just the way the artist heard them in the studio when they was recorded, the way they intended you to hear it. Bonus DVD also features: Behind-the-scenes video footage of the making of the record and an in-depth interview with George Benson.

FEATURED NEW BOOKS: The DownBeat book below is the very best gift we can envision for the jazz enthusiast who likes to read. Interview snippets and full interviews from jazz legends ranging from Jelly Roll Morton to Oscar Peterson to Herbie Hancock to Pat Metheny make this a unique tour through jazz history. We have previewed this book and it is a timeless treasure. In addition to several new drum books, we also are very glad to finally have available again two of Kjos Music's finest, Gene Bertoncini's Approaching the Guitar and Daniel Davis' Creative Comping, both in stock. We also are proud to present the E Flat edition of Hal Leonard's Real Christmas Book. ALL DECEMBER 2009 BOOKS ALL NOVEMBER 2009 BOOKS
DOWNBEAT: THE GREAT JAZZ INTERVIEWS Culled from the DownBeat archives, this brand new book includes in-depth interviews with literally every great jazz artist and personality that ever lived! Features classic photos and magazine covers from DownBeat's vast archives. In honor of its 75th anniversary, DownBeat's editors have brought together in this one volume the best interviews, insights, and photographs from the illustrious history of the world's top jazz magazine.	BEGINNING JAZZ BASS Ideal for any bassist looking to explore new styles, this one-on-lesson includes loads of exercises, diagrams, patterns, styles, and real-life applications to study and practice. The 43-track accompanying CD lets you play along with recorded examples to further fine-tune your jazz chops! Includes Two-Feel, Walking Bass, Bossa Nova, Ballads, Fills & More! With TAB.
MEET THE GREAT JAZZ LEGENDS Introduce a new generation of music enthusiasts to 17 legendary jazz artists who have enriched the world with their incredible talents. Dr. McCurdy's illuminating stories about the lives, times and music of these great jazz musicians span the entire twentieth century, from early New Orleans Jazz through the Golden Age of Swing plus the avant-garde and jazz fusion eras.	ADVANCED FUNK STUDIES Included in Modern Drummer magazine's list of the 25 greatest drum books, Advanced Funk Studies will help you take your groove to the next level. With author and renowned drummer Rick Latham as your guide, you'll learn hi-hat, funk, and fill patterns. Many of the ideas in this book are derived from some of the most famous and proficient funk drummers. The accompanying audio CDs provide examples of the exercises.
HERB ALPERT COLLECTION The music legend who founded the Ameriachi movement as well as A&M Records, Herb Alpert gave the world A Taste of Honey and other catchy hits in the '60s that are still enjoyed today. He's sold well over 70 million records in his illustrious career. This collection offers note-for-note trumpet transcriptions for 18 of his best.	COLE PORTER SONG COLLECTION This is a two-volume series presenting highlights from the career of Cole Porter. Volume one documents 50 songs from his early career, from 1912 until 1936, while Volume two contains his masterpieces from 1937-1958. The books include a song-by-song analysis, rare images of original sheet music, informal shots from Porter's scrapbooks, and publicity stills from motion pictures and Broadway.

FEATURED NEW BIG BAND ARRANGEMENTS: We're so thrilled to be the official publisher of Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Supersax, and Duke Pearson arrangements. We have many titles planned in the coming months - and even years! Send us an email and let us know what you think of our arrangements - we value all comments. DECEMBER 2009 BIG BAND CHARTS NOVEMBER 2009 BIG BAND CHARTS
ARAB DANCE: GIL EVANS Just in time for the holidays! Arab Dance was written in 1941 by Gil Evans and comes from a section of Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker' ballet. This has been published directly from the original manuscript, edited by Jeffrey Sultanof. This master edition comes with complete background and performance notes. This concert arrangement is scored for 7 reeds, 3 trumpets, 2 French horns, 2 trombones, guitar, piano, bass, and drums. The two French horns have been scored into trumpet 4 and trombone 3 parts, so this piece may be played without them. Approximately 4:30 in length.	SHAW 'NUFF: SUPERSAX Recorded on the 1977 record 'Chasing the Bird' here is Supersax's incredible arrangement of 'Shaw 'Nuff.' This piece is very difficult to play due to the tempo - moving along at 150 beats per half note. The arrangement features trumpet and trombone on the introduction but they drop out when the head comes in. There is an open solo section in the middle before a return to the head and then the intro is used as an outro. This is a very difficult arrangement but well worth the effort - guaranteed to turn heads and ears!
ANTHROPOLOGY: MARTY PAICH/ART PEPPER In 1959 Art Pepper recorded 12 tunes backed by an 11-piece 'little big band.' The Marty Paich charts focused on 'Modern Jazz Classics' including this arrangement of the Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie composition 'Anthropology.' This arrangement featured Art Pepper playing clarinet throughout with backing from the ensemble. Though there was another alto player on the date (in addition to Art Pepper), those parts have been scored into the band and/or clarinet part so that you only need to have 1 clarinet/alto player to play this arrangement. We previously published Marty Paich's arrangement of Shaw 'Nuff.	UNIT 7: DUKE PEARSON In addition to the two full-length records that the Duke Pearson Big Band recorded in the late 1960s, there were numerous other arrangements that didn't get recorded. This arrangement of Sam Jones' standard 'Unit 7' is one of those tunes that was performed live by the band but never recorded. This arrangement alternates between swing (for A sections) and Latin (for bridge) and features a trumpet solo (written for trumpet 4) and alto saxophone solo. Both solos have Duke's typical great backgrounds happening. Trumpet 1 goes to F6 and trombones 1 & 2 get to C5. There are no saxophone doubles. In addition, a guitar part is included.

In our holiday-spiced effort to present the very best selection of interesting new items for you, as of this newsletter we have added 11 new DVDs for December 2009 and 32 for November 2009; 24 new music books for December 2009 and 64 for November 2009; 5 new big band and combo arrangements for the month of December 2009 and 27 for the month of November 2009. Our constantly growing jazz-related DVD selection now proudly presents over 2,175 titles. We have the live performance DVDs, the documentaries, the method DVDs, the personal master classes - we proudly offer a selection of jazz and jazz-related DVDs that is truly second to none. As always, please keep in mind that many of our new releases are available in limited quantities. We do our best to predict demand and fill orders as quickly as possible, but we do run out of new releases. Even if we run out of stock, everything featured in this newsletter should be available to ship within 3 weeks.