Glenn Miller

Slow Freight

Buck Ram (founder of the Platters) wrote the tune which Bill Finegan crafted into a Glenn Miller classic. It was one of the few arrangements that Billy May carried over into his own band. Our transcription has been drawn from both, almost identical, versions. As you might expect, it's a Trumpet feature, and we have written out May's Trumpet solos in full, assigning the solos to the second Trumpet part. This chart, whilst not fast, swings like crazy, and the melody riff is infectious. The brass ranges are generally moderate, though all four Trombones are written to reach high Bb in the shout chorus. There are a couple of 16th note sax runs which sound tricky, but the notes fall easily under the fingers. There are no sax doubles.