Edition: Jazz Octet Arrangement

Description: Swing - Difficult

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

Dave Pell diverted from his well-known Octet on two occasions in the late 1970s to pay tribute to his musical idol, tenor saxophone great Lester Young. Employing arrangements from fellow Young acolyte Bill Holman and guest appearances from Count Basie stars Harry 'Sweets' Edison and Joe Williams, these Prez Conference records feature a Woody Herman-style sax section (three tenors, one baritone) playing several standards associated with Young, complete with harmonized solis based off of his classic solos.

This arrangement is clever in that it references two separate recordings from the same December 1943 session for inspiration. Starting off with a transcription of Slam Stewart's bass intro (albeit played by both piano and bass here), the melody is based on Young's interpretation from the master take. Holman then makes soli sections out of Young's solos from both the master and alternate take. These solis sandwich a trumpet solo and are followed by a piano solo, but each section can be opened up as much as you'd like. The ending, just like the rest of the arrangement, is taken straight from the original recording.

This publication was prepared from the original set of parts used for the recording session as supplied to us by Dave Pell - this is not a transcription.

 

Full Score
3 Tenor Saxophones
Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet (Optional)
Guitar
Piano
Acoustic Bass
Drum Set