Edition: Jazz Big Band Arrangement with Vocal

Description: Swing - Medium Difficult

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

Frank Sinatra's career may not have taken off until becoming the star male vocalist for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, but his brief stint with trumpeter Harry James's band was where his star was truly born. This Andy Gibson-arranged take on the not-well-known standard 'My Buddy' is a pleasant medium-tempo jaunt from start to finish.

The introduction serves as a short feature for the band, with the brass outlining the harmony behind a simple unison sax line before James makes his presence known with the first melody statement at measure 9. Another unison sax line accompanied by some brass stabs ushers Sinatra's vocals into the spotlight at measure 41. The backgrounds in the saxes are similar (but not identical) behind these melody statements, and should stay soft and out of the way for both trumpet and vocal. The vocal chorus sees a simple unison trumpet counter line added to fill in the gaps in Sinatra’s relatively straight interpretation.

Measure 73 sees the spotlight shift more in favor of some improvised solos - first, a half chorus of tenor saxophone, then 8 bars of alto saxophone following a brief ensemble shout at measure 89, and finally a key change for a brass soloist (trombone on the original recording, but originally intended as a James trumpet solo) at measure 105. The final eight measures of the melody are tagged, with a short trumpet solo break before the ensemble returns to wrap things up in a clean, crisp fashion.

On the original recording, measure 73 to measure 105 was cut, likely for time reasons. This version has the entire chart as originally written by Gibson, with notes indicating both cuts and optional changes to which instrument solos when, giving you a variety of options of how to perform this arrangement.

This publication was based on the original Andy Gibson pencil score - this is not a transcription.

 

Full Score
Vocal
Trumpet Soloist
2 Alto Saxophones (Alto Sax 2 Doubles Baritone Sax)
2 Tenor Saxophones
3 Trumpets
3 Trombones
Guitar
Piano
Bass
Drums

Vocal Key: F
Trumpet Soloist: C6
Trumpet 1: B5
Trombone 1: A4
Trombone 1: