Villancicos para Big Band

Arguably the most famous number of the Charle Barnet Orchestra, Skyliner is a really punchy, up-tempo swinger, featuring a Piano intro, unison brass carrying the melodic line, with clarinet-led saxes...

A classic tune from the brothers Gershwin, we have arranged Strike Up the Band as a swing quickstep which makes an excellent set opener and is very suitable for dancing. At two minutes twenty it is no...

One of Artie Shaw's most endearing charts, Softly as a Morning Sunrise was scored as a mid-tempo swing chart for the Shaw band by Jerry Gray, later of Miller fame. We have transcibed the chart and sco...

Artie Shaw had many great swing charts to his name, but few were as punchy and as powerful as Traffic Jam. It fairly rips along at a quick 240 beats a minute, yet it never sounds forced or rushed. We...

Here is Benny Goodman's 1947 hard swinging version of Fred Fisher's enduring classic. (Please don't confuse it with the earlier, and more predictable, 1934 Henderson chart). This later version, whilst...

Here is our faithful transcription of Skippy Martin's inspirational chart written for the Les Brown band. It is not a rework of the stock chart that was published decades ago which contained many erro...

Transcribed from Peggy Lee's 1959 'Jump for Joy' album, this beautifully crafted Nelson Riddle chart swings hard from start to finish. The band writing is sublime and always gives perfect support to t...

Manhattan was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald in 1957, for the Verve album 'Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook'. The original Buddy Bregman arrangement was scored for strings, and orchestra...

Here is our take on Nelson Riddle's chart written for Ella Fitzgerald for her 'Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson' album. We have adapted this chart by removing the strings, to make it playable with a r...

Here is our take on Doris Day's charming vocal chart for the Les Brown Orchestra, not to be confused with her 1955 show version with Percy Faith. The chart opens with an instrumental half-chorus, modu...

Too Darn Hot was written by Cole Porter for the 1948 musical 'Kiss Me Kate' and was featured by Ella Fitzgerald on her Cole Porter Songbook album, with the original arrangement by Buddy Bregman. We ha...

Adapted from Ella Fitzgerald's Cole Porter Songbook recording, this chart is laid back, relaxed and easy to play. It would make a good 'change-of-pace chart' for a concert setting or live gig. The arr...

Transcribed from Natalie Cole's 'Still Unforgettable' album, this chart is a really clever fusion of old and new, as it combines elements of Nat King Cole's original recording along with his daughters...

This version of Ain't We Got Fun was recorded by Doris Day, with the Paul Weston Orchestra accompanied by the Norman Luboff Choir. The original arrangement was by Paul Weston. Our transcription closel...

This chart was originally recorded by Ella Mae Morse with the Freddie Slack Orchestra in July 1942 (on Capitol 115). The title itself refers to Jimmy Rushing, Count Basie's vocalist from 1935-48. The...

Recorded by Helen Forrest with the Artie Shaw band, this is an accurate transcription of the original Jerry Gray concept, complete with the intro Piano solo and Shaw's silky first chorus solo line. We...

From the album 'Buddy Rich at Ronnie Scott's'. This Ellington standard is always a great vehicle for solos. The chart has very playable written out solos for Tenor Sax and Trumpet and also includes dr...

The Quincy Jones / Count Basie version. Great section writing, plus written out tenor and piano solos. A superb swing number. Key C minor.

Sammy Nestico, who wrote many fine scores for the Count Basie Band, has provided this laid-back Basie-style arrangement, starting with the piano and rhythm section, and then gradually building right t...

The Bobby Darin version which really swings right from the start. The first four bars can easily be repeated for a great opener. Take a look at the TV recording on YouTube to see how this works-brilli...

The dynamic mid tempo number from the 2016 album 'Nobody But Me'.

Glenn Miller. Big Band Instrumental. This can still sound as fresh as ever, with its 12 bar blues sequence theme and linking eight bar sections. The original solos are written out but there is ample s...

Swing chart featuring trpt & tenor on the initial melody. Sax soli. Some sax dbls.

Here's one of the classic bebop tunes of all time. Sonny Rollins' famous melody is expertly arranged here in the little big band format. Great sounds for small groups!