Edition: Jazz Big Band Arrangement

Description: Swing - Difficult

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

This is one of my favorite blues pieces - joyful and subtle at the same time, with a specific 8th note feel without which the piece will sound overly bouncy - even a little silly. But with the right emphasis and phrasing, it is a swinging piece with few difficulties once the 8th note feel has been mastered. I once heard Horace's original recording of the piece played on the piped-in music in a supermarket in Bellingham, Washington, and it put a bounce in my step as I pushed the grocery cart around the store. The experience of hearing the piece in that context was so bizarre that, in remembering it, I began to doubt the authenticity of my memory. Could that have happened? My wife confirms that I came home and told her about it, so I guess the memory is real, but the circumstance was one of the stranger invasions of good music into territory where the music is usually designed to be harmless, non-invasive and almost mind numbing. It's a beautiful memory.

Full Score
2 Alto Saxophones
2 Tenor Saxophones
Baritone Saxophone
4 Trumpets
3 Trombones
Piano
Bass
Drums

Trumpet 1: E5