Edition: Jazz Big Band Arrangement with Vocal

Description: Swing - Medium Difficult

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

Ella Fitzgerald and Billy May's only collaboration, 1961's "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook," produced two versions of "This Time The Dream's On Me," one featuring Fitzgerald with a big band and the other with a string orchestra. Both versions were recorded, but the big band version was ultimately rejected in favor of the string orchestra version and has been left unreleased to this day. Jazz Lines Publications is excited to present this new "undiscovered" arrangement for the first time.

The arrangement's introduction is typical May - brash and brassy. The vocalist enters with the pickups to the melody in measure 8, accompanied at first by another May trademark, a saxophone section with a tenor sax serving as the lead voice. The figures accompanying the vocals throughout can be best described as simple yet very effective.

One of the features of this arrangement that makes it stand out from other arrangements written for Fitzgerald at this time (and possibly a reason why this take was scrapped) is the extended ensemble shout section beginning at measure 41. The first two A sections of the song's form feature the brass playing call and response with an improvised tenor sax solo before the rest of the saxophones enter at measure 57.

The introduction is repeated at measure 65 to set up the vocalist's re-entry at measure 73. Some more simple-yet-effective backgrounds underpin the vocals until the band's concluding fanfare at measure 101.

This arrangement is for jazz big band with featured vocal soloist. May's original score and parts do not contain any tempo marks, dynamics or articulations, so we have approximated these features based off of our knowledge of May's arranging style.

This arrangement has been based on the original Billy May pencil score and the set of parts used during the 1960 recording session.

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

Vocal Key: C
Trumpet 1: D6
Trombone 1: C5