Ella Fitzgerald

Pick Yourself Up

Pick Yourself Up has been lovingly transcribed by Jon Harpin from the wonderful album 'Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson', and the chart shows off the best of both vocalist and arranger. The structure of the chart sounds simple - a bold intro, vocal chorus, band interlude with Tenor and Trumpet solo breaks and a rousing vocal chorus to finish - but the writing in it is simply stunning. The chart opens in the key of C, moves to D then G, reverts to C and D for the instrumental sections and back to G and C for the last vocal chorus. There is always something happening to catch the ear of the listener, and your band needs to be awake too. The brass is written quite high, with lead Trumpet to high F and lead Trombone to B. Alto 1 also doubles Clarinet. Not an easy chart, but it is a classic.