Edition: Jazz Big Band Arrangement

Description: Swing - Medium Difficult

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

“…But you’ll look sweet, upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.”

Among all the brilliant, clever, sophisticated, lyrics in the American Songbook—memorable lines by, Ira Gershwin, Yip Harburg, Andy Razaf, Johnny Mercer, Frank Loesser, Stephen Sondheim, and all the others, it’s hard to find a line that fits a little snatch of tune more memorably than that one by British songwriter, Harry Dacre. I don’t think anyone who hears it forgets it. So, when David Berger and I embarked on our public domain song reharmonization project, Daisy Bell was one of the many good songs that stuck with me. I’ve known and remembered it since my childhood.

This arrangement starts with three-part counterpoint—without rhythm section. (The players need to stay steady and coordinated.) Occasionally, I like to hold back the entrance of the otherwise ubiquitous rhythm section continuo part in a jazz piece, so that its entrance is energizing and dramatic. There’s not much else to say about how I thought about this beyond the careful intertwining of the second and third contrapuntal lines, and contrast of appearance of pedal point harmony at the beginning of the melody with the chromaticism that appears where the melody for “you’ll look sweet, upon the seat…” appears in the lead voice.

Full Score
2 Alto Saxophones
2 Tenor Saxophones
Baritone Saxophone
4 Trumpets
3 Trombones
Bass Trombone
Guitar
Piano
Bass
Drum Set

Trumpet 1: E5
Trombone 1: G4