Edition: Jazz Big Band Arrangement with Vocal

Description: Swing - Difficult

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

Nat 'King' Cole's interpretation of the old standard "Avalon" comes from his 1958 album "Welcome to the Club." Featuring the Count Basie Orchestra (minus Basie himself), Capitol Records A&R man Dave Cavanaugh provided the arrangements, which do a wonderful job of mimicking the classic Basie sound while also being tailored exquisitely to Cole's voice.

A rousing full band introduction and four bar drum break set up the vocalist's entrance at measure 11. The volume of the backgrounds throughout should be fairly minimal, but the driving sense of propulsion from the introduction should also be maintained. The backgrounds are largely simple riffs, but require a keen sense of time to be able to execute cleanly at this tempo.

The ensemble shout begins at measure 43 and consists of a series of traded fours between the horns and the drums. The drummer should feel as uninhibited as possible during these solo breaks, and shouldn't be afraid to show off a bit. A brief bebop-ish line at measure 67 and one last drum break brings the volume back down for the re-statement of the melody at measure 75. Rhythmically, the vocalist initially lines up with the saxophones before branching out into a more individual interpretation at measure 91. The arrangement's conclusion is overall fairly similar to the introduction, ending on a powerful final chord with the drummer soloing over top.

This arrangement is for jazz big band with male vocal soloist. It is not a transcription - it has been prepared from Dave Cavanaugh's original score and the set of parts used during the 1958 recording session.

 

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

Trumpet 1: F6
Trombone 1: Bb4