Big Band Original-Arrangements

As recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra on their album Count Basie's Finest Hour, 'Doodle Oodle' is a barn-burning Billy Byers original. In usual Basie fashion, this chart swings its tail off with in...

Written for the 50th Anniversary of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (2017), this chart will get your band and your audience up and swingin'!  There is plenty of solo space for Tenor Saxophone, Piano...

Bill Holman has given us a superb gift on his 90th birthday - his gift of swing, humor, great melody, and his always exciting ensemble passages. Here is his newest original - a buoyant, optimistic, ha...

Can you say 'trip-uh-let'? This fun, down home swingin' chart was recorded by the Les Hooper Big Band on 'Dorian Blue'. With reasonable brass ranges, there is plenty of solo space for baritone saxopho...

This wonderful piece, written by Rich DeRosa, was recorded on 'Lab 2017' by the UNT One O'Clock Lab Band. This 'loose' swinger features a tenor/bass duet melody, beautiful contrapuntal lines that weav...

Of all the arrangements done of this iconic Strayhorn/Ellington standard, Don Sebesky's chart, written for the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra (and recorded numerous times) ranks as one of the best, most c...

As recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra on 'This Time by Basie,' this arrangement by Billy Byers of Cole Porter's melody is pure Basie. Opening with a short Basie-ish figure, the band then swings at...

The Count Basie Orchestra did-does the 'barn burner' charts better than almost any other big band. This Billy Byers original starts out hot and never cools down. The tenor saxophone is the chosen solo...

As recorded on 'Count Basie Picks the Winners,' this wonderful Billy Byers chart takes this lovely standard into a whole new world. There is a bit of flute to be played by your 1st Tenor, there is a t...

Once again Billy Byers has created the quintessential, original chart for the Count Basie Orchestra. This one is recorded on 'Basie Land.' The easy swing feel/tempo makes this piece very accessible fo...

Gene Roland wrote for the Stan Kenton Orchestra for almost the entire history of the Kenton Band. He wrote the entire 'Adventure in Blues' album for that band, and this is just one of many highly orig...

Gene Roland wrote for the Stan Kenton Orchestra for almost the entire history of the Kenton Band. He wrote the entire 'Adventure in Blues' album for that band, and this is just one of many highly orig...

This Curnow original was inspired by the fact that there aren't a lot of bass features available for up-and-coming bassists. The tempo is set at about 100, and the chart opens up with your bass player...

Bob Curnow dedicates this to his new grandson Eli whose middle name is Wolfgang. So, he had to have his own tune, right? Based on a medium slow, swinging feel, this chart moves quickly into a Basie-is...

This is one of the most popular charts on the 'Jazz Compositions of Dee Barton' recording by the Stan Kenton Orchestra. This is the original arrangement as recorded by Kenton. There is an edited versi...

This is one of the most popular charts on the 'Jazz Compositions of Dee Barton' recording by the Stan Kenton Orchestra. This is an edited version arranged for standard big band instrumentation (works...

This fantastic chart swings like all the greatest Basie classics. As recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra on "Broadway Hollywood… Basie's Way," Chico O'Farrill's arrangement of Baubles, Bangles & Be...

Ein unglaubliches Werk - anspruchsvoll und mit ausgedehnter Spiellänge demonstriert es Bill Holmans Können.

This wonderful chart features a front line of tenor sax and trumpet stating the melody. There is solo space for alto, two tenors, trumpet and drums. A rip-roaring shout chorus highlights the marvelous...

Scintillating big band music at its best!! Holman does it again! Lots of blowing space for trombone and baritone sax, and a romp-stompin' trip through Holman's present-day ideas about the modern big b...

Bill's wonderful melodic ideas find a home in a humorous setting featuring swinging tenor sax and trombone solos. Wonderful shout choruses. Fascinating twists and turns, as always in a hard-swinging t...

A kind of quirky approach in a medium groove. Unusual harmonic schemes create a fresh and exciting feature. This swings like CRAZY! The band really has the chance to be creative.(4 soprano saxes) Incl...

This chart was recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra on the CD 'I Told You So.' This is a rip-roaring, swinging chart. It starts with trombones and rhythm setting the time with simple halfnote figures...

This chart is recorded on the sensational CD titled Passages by the Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra. It is a magnificent scoring of the Gershwin classic, a chart for which people have been clamori...

Johnny Richards is perhaps best known for his work with the Kenton band. However, this piece was written for his great New York Band and is a wonderful, melodic, not-too-hard chart. It features alto s...