Jazz Ensemble Original Arrangements

Another superb Bob Mintzer original, 'March Majestic' is a New Orleans-flavored chart with a swing feel, which draws on the influence of composer Aaron Copland. Solo chord changes for tenor sax 1 and...

Pianist John Lewis wrote this arrangement of the Dizzy Gillespie/Milton Shaw tune for a 1946 recording session. The Gillespie band played this chart live during the 1940s and into the early 1960s. Fea...

It should come as no surprise that bringing together the arranging prowess of Benny Carter and the iconic sound of the Count Basie Orchestra resulted in some of the greatest big band jazz ever capture...

Largely based off of pianist Ahmad Jamal's original recording, Gil Evans' arrangement of 'New Rhumba' serves as an outstanding vehicle for Jamal's devoted musical disciple, trumpeter Miles Davis, thro...

Frank Foster originally composed 'Manhattan Fever' as the title track for a 1968 sextet date of the same name. In 1977, Foster would release another album under the same title, this time featuring his...

Frank Foster's contributions to the Count Basie orchestra of the 1950s cannot be underestimated. Whether serving as the band's star tenor saxophone soloist or one of its definitive arrangers, Foster p...

This brilliant Frank Foster arrangement was written for the Count Basie Orchestra and recorded live in Detroit in 1992 for their Telarc CD 'Basie's Bag.' Foster takes this 1974 Cedar Walton tune and t...

In the story of 'Porgy and Bess,' a buzzard flying overhead is considered to be a sign of bad things to come. Although 'The Buzzard Song' starts out with the intention of serving as a warning, Porgy t...

ARRANGED AND RECORDED BY ROB MCCONNELL Here's Rob McConnell's tour de force arrangement of Just Friends from his 1981 album 'Big Band Jazz, Vol. 1' on Pausa Records. We have used the original manuscri...

Here is a great Billy Byers chart that epitomizes the laid-back Basie sound. This arrangement features written-out piano fills throughout and a harmon-muted trumpet solo (on trumpet 2, also written ou...

AS RECORDED BY COUNT BASIE ARRANGED BY ERNIE WILKINS, TRANSCRIBED BY JONATHAN LORENTZ On a warm, July day in 1961 Ernie Wilkins came to a Count Basie Orchestra gig at Birdland in New York with a newly...

RECORDED BY THE DUKE PEARSON BIG BAND ARRANGED BY DUKE PEARSON Here is one of Duke Pearson's best compositions, exactly as he arranged it for his big band in 1967. This publication has been engraved d...

AS RECORDED BY THE DUKE PEARSON BIG BAND ARRANGED BY DUKE PEARSON Here is another fantastic arrangement from Duke Pearson. The original manuscript has been used to produce this arrangement - this is N...

AS RECORDED BY THE DUKE PEARSON BIG BAND ARRANGED BY DUKE PEARSON Here is another fantastic arrangement from Duke Pearson. The original manuscript has been used to produce this arrangement - this is N...

Thanks to the rediscovery of the original scores and parts of the Bird with strings arrangements, we now know that Joe Lipman did not arrange Autumn in New York. The handwriting on the score is totall...

AS RECORDED BY CHARLIE PARKER ARRANGED BY JOE LIPMAN This famous big band chart was arranged for Charlie Parker in 1951 by Joe Lipman. Lipman had previously worked with Parker on the his recordings wi...

Red Bank, New Jersey native William 'Count' Basie usually spent more time calling attention to the many wonderful musicians in his fabulous bands. This Neal Hefti arrangement, originally recorded for...

PERFORMED BY CLAUDE THORNHILL ARRANGED BY GIL EVANS, EDITED BY JEFFREY SULTANOF [Notes by Jeffrey Sultanof] Background: The Claude Thornhill Orchestra was an ensemble that had a unique approach: a vib...

Anthropology was written by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Evans arranged the line in 1947, and it was recorded for Columbia Records and for radio transcriptions. The instrumentation calls for 5...

RECORDED BY CLAUDE THORNHILL ARRANGED BY GIL EVANS In 1941 Gil Evans went to New York to write for the Claude Thornhill orchestra, which won two successive Billboard polls in the 'sweet band' category...

RECORDED BY THE DUKE PEARSON BIG BAND ARRANGED BY DUKE PEARSON, EDITED BY JEFFREY SULTANOF Here is one of the great charts from the 'Introducing the Duke Pearson Big Band' record from 1967. This is a...

In hindsight, it is somewhat amusing that Dave Brubeck's 'The Duke' is more frequently associated with Miles Davis and Gil Evans than Brubeck himself. Nevertheless, this version from 1957's 'Miles Ahe...