Edition: Jazz Septet Arrangement

Description: Latin/Swing - Difficult

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

Duke Pearson's 1968 album The Right Touch is rightly considered one of his finest efforts as a leader. Featuring an all-star lineup of horn players, a rock-solid and sympathetic rhythm section, and a brilliant set of Pearson’s original compositions and arrangements, this album continues to hold up as an outstanding example of late 1960s hard bop.

Grady Tate's 8 bars of groove set up "Los Malos Hombres" as the barn-burner of the album 'The Right Touch.' The opening descending horn fanfare at measure 9 ultimately sets up a fast, tricky line executed in unison by the trumpet and two saxophones. The melody at measure 22 sees a game of call and response between two 'ensembles:' trombone and piano versus trumpet and saxophones. Each of these call and responses ends in a recap of the same initial fast horn line that ushered them in.

After the melody, the groove switches to a swing feel for Stanley Turrentine's tenor saxophone solo over a Bb minor blues. A full band fanfare sets up a key change to C minor for Freddie Hubbard's trumpet, followed by the fanfare re-used, transposed up a whole step, to set up yet another key change, this time to D minor, for James Spaulding's alto saxophone solo. Spaulding is followed by Pearson's piano, then by an open Grady Tate drum solo. At the end of the drum solo, the groove returns to a Latin feel for the re-statement of the melody, which ends swiftly and abruptly on one final Bb minor hit.

This arrangement is written for septet. An optional guitar part has been included.

Full Score
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Trumpet
Trombone
Guitar (Optional)
Piano
Bass
Drums

Trumpet: D6