Edition: Jazz Big Band Arrangement with Vocal

Description: Swing - Medium

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

NEW EDITION FOR 2017!

Originally recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1957 for his "A Swingin' Affair!" album, the arrangement presented here is from 1962's "Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First." Written by longtime Basie collaborator Neal Hefti, Sinatra opted to take this later version at a noticeably slower clip than the earlier version, resulting in an overall much more relaxed and evenly paced performance.

The subtle brilliance of the arrangement is established right off the bat with a set of ensemble figures that are so stripped down in surface content they even barely qualify as a background: a single quarter note in the muted brass and a quick flutter in the flutes. This background continues throughout most of Sinatra's vocals on the A section of the melody. Even as "easy" as this may seem, it's important for there to be a certain weightiness to the quarter notes in the brass to balance the lightness of the flute riff. To add to all of this, this entire section should be kept quite soft.

In addition to these figures, some of the other backgrounds underneath the vocalist include an unusually dissonant rumble in the brass at measures 12, 24 and 56, as well as some simple call and response figures passed back and forth between the three horn sections from measure 33 to 48. A dramatic and sudden swell in volume at measure 61 and a typical Basie piano "plink" set up a key change for the ensemble shout section four bars later. Hefti's brilliant subtlety continues during this part, as the simplicity of the rhythms during this section allow for the ensemble to bring out the effectiveness of the slow but steady swell in volume.

The shout carries over into the first four measures of the bridge at measure 77 with a full-powered fanfare. Sinatra re-enters with the melody at 81, with the saxophones accompanying him with some slightly more complicated figures than before. A variation on the initial ensemble riff returns at measure 93, with the band gradually building to an almost militaristic fanfare at measure 107. For all the subtlety of the arrangement as a whole, however, the proceedings come to a close with a final chord that can only be described as jarringly dissonant.

Full Score
Vocal
2 Alto Saxophones (Both Double Flute)
2 Tenor Saxophones
Baritone Saxophone
4 Trumpets
3 Trombones
Bass Trombone
Guitar
Piano
Bass
Drums

Vocal Key: C modulating to Db
Trumpet 1: Db6
Trombone 1: Ab4