Edition: Jazz Big Band Arrangement

Description: Slow Swing - Medium for Band, Difficult for Trumpet 1

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

The Basie band of the 1950s possessed a trumpet player in Snooky Young who was not only one of the most accomplished lead players of all time, but was a marvelous soloist as well. This chart was originally written as a vehicle to feature all aspects of Young's musicianship, from his broad, singing tone to his impressive upper register prowess.

A gentle sax section riff ushers Young's melody statement in at the pickups to measure 5. The riff continues in slightly altered form to accommodate the melody’s harmony for the most part, minus a couple more elaborate flourishes on occasion. The only brass backgrounds during the melody occur halfway through the bridge at measure 18, and should stay out of the way of the soloist. Young plays the melody almost completely straight on the original recording, letting its own natural beauty speak for itself, and your soloist is advised to do similarly.

The saxes take over the melody briefly for the second bridge at measure 31, with the trombones providing some double-time implications for a background. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Young’s trumpet returns to the forefront at full blast, soaring over the rest of the ensemble up to a climactic high note at measure 37 before everything returns to the more tranquil approach of the beginning. The arrangement ends in a highly pleasant fashion, with Young playing a melody variation for a few measures before Marshall Royal’s alto sax plays a teasing figure that leads into the final warm ensemble chord.

 

Full Score
2 Alto Saxophones
2 Tenor Saxophones
Baritone Saxophone
4 Trumpets
3 Trombones
Guitar
Piano
Bass
Drums

Trumpet 1: G6
Trumpet 2: F6
Trombone 1: G4