Jazz Ensemble Original Arrangements

Gordon Goodwin's CD Big Phat Band - Swingin' For The Fences contains a wealth of terrific charts in a wide variety of styles by this talented writer. This sizzling Latin masterpiece written in a songo...

From John La Barbera's latest big band recording, here is the title cut - a masterful arrangement of this little-known Ellington gem. The tempo is moderate in an African/Latin vein and features a weal...

Composed and arranged by Gordon Goodwin, this buoyant samba is sweet. Soprano sax lead and solo space available for soprano, alto, tenor, trumpet and trombone. Lead trumpet range is to written high F-...

This classic Herbie Hancock composition has become one of the most well-known songs in jazz history. Gordon Goodwin wanted to do something a little different in his arrangement without violating the s...

Funky! Gordon Goodwin is the hottest writer on the scene today. The Big Phat Band is modern, hip, exciting, fresh, and captivating to listen to - and here is the real thing as performed/recorded by th...

AS RECORDED BY CARMEN MCRAE ARRANGED BY JACK PLEIS, TRANSCRIBED AND ADAPTED BY SYD POTTER This great cha cha arrangement was recorded by Carmen McRae on February 21, 1955 with the Jack Pleis Orchestra...

Recorded on the SWR Big Band CD Fun Time, this medium tempo ballad has an irresistible Latin beat. Trumpets double on flugelhorn and solo space is reserved for trumpet/flugelhorn and alto sax. Each se...

This brisk salsa features an Earth, Wind & Fire unison horn theme over a percolating Latin groove. Bob recommends listening to his CD, Latin From Manhattan, before rehearsing it, and suggests working...

Exactly as recorded by the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band on their classic RCA album, Tales Of A Courtesan, this solo feature for trombone or flugelhorn also includes an improvised flute obbli...

The title refers to the somewhat mystical style of the opening of this wonderful and fun-filled chart. After the opening, and a couple of screams of terror from the band, the piece settles into a real...

The LP The First Circle contains some of the most exciting contemporary music ever created. This chart has been acclaimed as one of the best big band arrangements ever done! The piece is rhythmically...

This arrangement features tenor saxophone and guitar, and the chart captures the excitement of this marvelous tune from Pat's Secret Story CD. (10 brass) (on CD 104) As recorded on Bob Curnow's L.A. B...

As commissioned (and recorded) by the SWR Big Band of Stuttgart, Germany, this is an extended arrangement based on a gorgeous melody by Pat Metheny. The saxophone players double on flute (sax 1), clar...

Here is a great blend of swing and Latin, done in the inimitable style of Oliver Nelson. It was recorded on the Flying Dutchman label in 1969. This wonderful chart features alto saxophone. 5-4-4-3

The opening cut from the Mingus Big Band CD Gunslinging Birds is this raucous and blistering jazz waltz. Mingus wrote this piece as a tribute to Charlie Bird Parker with the subtitle If Charlie Parker...

From the Mingus Big Band CD Blues and Politics!, this intense minor blues opens with a bass solo then gradually unfolds layer by layer until the entire ensemble is screaming. Includes plenty of solo s...

From the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra CD Shout Me Out!, the title cut features a medium slow shout chorus surrounded by solo choruses. Hard-hitting swing at its best! Recording courtesy of Fable Re...

John's arrangement of this jazz classic was written specifically to feature Milt Jackson with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra; however, just about any instrument can play the head at the beginning...

This John Clayton original from the CD Groove Shop explodes into a medium swing groove, then features a small group (soprano, tenor, trumpet and trombone) on the first go-around of the tune. The saxes...

As recorded by Count Basie on Prime Time, here is the magnificent Nestico flag-waver to end all flag-wavers! Combine a wonderful standard tune with solos for piano and tenor along with some of Sammy's...

Written for the Ellington orchestra by saxophonist Johnny Hodges, this catchy riff-based tune swings hard from beginning to end. After the hard-hitting opening, solos are exchanged by tenor, trombone,...

Recorded on the Grammy-nominated CD I Am Three by the Mingus Big Band, this composition was originally written by Mingus for a 1959 television drama. Arranged here for the Mingus Big Band by the late...

This recent adaptation by bassist Boris Kozlov presents the marvelous Mingus composition in a rich setting containing a variety of musical styles. Opening in a quasi-classical style, the piece quickly...