Cubano Be

Jazz Big Band Arrangement. Full Score, 2 Alto Saxophones, 2 Tenor Saxophones, Baritone Saxophone, 4 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Guitar, Piano, Bass, Drums

This ground-breaking arrangement was written by George Russell in 1947 for the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band. It was first recorded live at Carnegie Hall then recorded at one of the last sessions Dizzy Gillespie made for RCA Victor in 1947 (before another recording ban took place during most of 1948). The importance of Cubano Be (and its sister piece, Cubano Bop) is that it signaled to the music community that Afro-Cuban rhythms (and Latin influences in general) could be merged with jazz. Through these performances and recordings, Afro-Cuban arrangements found their way to the concert hall. In 1949 J.J. Robbins & Sons published a stock arrangement of this tune that was nearly identical to the arrangement from Dizzy's book. The only major difference was that the published version was for 3 trumpets instead of 4. We have recreated the 4th trumpet part.