Billy May

Swanee River

This chart has been transcribed from Time Life's 'The Swing Era' 1940-1941, disc two, track 12, with Billy May conducting the studio orchestra. The version is a reflection of Tommy Dorsey's original arrangement as scored by Sy Oliver which was released on RCA Victor 27233 as the B-side to Star Dust. We have written our version for a full 5444 big band. Trombone 2 takes the original Dorsey solo line and the ad-lib Trumpet solo is taken by the second chair. The little fill-in sax solos in the shout chorus are taken by Tenor 1 and the Piano solo is played ad-lib from the melody cue and chords. This is a fairly straightforward chart, with moderate brass ranges and plenty of dynamic contrast. There are no sax doubles.