Edition: Jazz Nonet Arrangement

Description: Swing - Medium

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

Another song I’ve known as long as I can remember — a strophic ballad in blues form, in which each chorus of a story repeats the same music while the words change and the story develops. Although I never heard her sing this song, I remember playing with Joan Baez in a coffee shop in Cambridge, Mass. in 1960, before she signed a contract with Vanguard records and gained well deserved recognition. She could sing the Cruel Mother, or Copper Kettle — verse after verse of the same music, and keep you riveted to the story with the expressive beauty of her singing and playing. My goal in this arrangement was to retain the form and support the story with changing textures that emphasized the drama of the allegorical story. If you know the words, the tempo and key changes attach themselves to the text. Even if you don’t know the story, using its inherent drama to suggest musical diversity turns out to be creatively helpful, and you end up with a blues that swings, slows down for moments of contemplation and then rides off swinging again.

-Chuck Israels

Full Score
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet
Trombone
Guitar
Piano
Bass
Drums

Trumpet 1: A5