Edition: Jazz Studio Orchestra Arrangement with Vocal

Description: Mambo/Swing - Medium Difficult

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

George and Ira Gershwin's song He Loves and She Loves was written for the 1927 Broadway show Funny Face. This is one of a series of arrangements written by Nelson Riddle for Ella Fitzgerald focusing on the Gershwin songbook. These arrangements constitute some of the most famous settings of classic songs for one of the greatest vocalists in American music.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959) was the high point in the series of songbook packages produced by Norman Granz for the Verve label. There had been four such projects beforehand: boxes of songs by Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington and Irving Berlin preceded it. Granz decided to make the Gershwin box the most ambitious of all of them; 5 LPs plus a 7" limited edition bonus disc that included Riddle arrangements of Gershwin instrumental compositions. This project had the enthusiastic cooperation and participation of lyricist Ira Gershwin who attended the recording sessions and re-wrote lyrics for the occasion.

Set in a gentle mambo feel, the arrangement starts off with unaccompanied bass who is then joined by bass trombone. This pattern will come back throughout the arrangement played by different instruments and slightly different interpretations. Riddle was a master of writing memorable riffs that become developed over the course of the arrangement. The feel shifts to straight-ahead swing for the bridge and then returns to the mambo feel for the last A section. An eight-bar interlude sets up the full ensemble shout section lasting 16 bars and alternating between mambo and swing feel. Tenor saxophone has two short solos during this section. After the shout the vocalist re-enters to state the bridge and last A section. The arrangements winds down with bass and bass trombone re-stating the opening riff.

This publication was prepared using Riddle's pencil score and original set of parts used for the recording session - this is not a transcription.

 

Full Score
Vocal
Woodwind 1: Flute/Alto Saxophone
Woodwind 2: Flute/Alto Saxophone
Woodwind 3: Flute/Tenor Saxophone
Woodwind 4: Oboe (or Clarinet)/Tenor Saxophone
Woodwind 5: Bass Clarinet/Baritone Saxophone
4 Trumpets
3 Trombones
Bass Trombone
3 Violins (10 Players Recommended)
Viola (3 Players Recommended)
Cello (3 Players Recommended)
Harp (Optional)
Guitar
Piano
Acoustic Bass
Percussion: Bells/Xylophone
Drum Set
Alternate Woodwind 4: Clarinet/Tenor Saxophone

Vocal Key: Ab
Trumpet 1: Db6
Trombone 1: Bb4