Big Band Original-Arrangements

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...

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...

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...

AS PERFORMED BY HELEN O'CONNELL ARRANGED BY HAL MOONEY, ADAPTED BY ROB DUBOFF This is the first chart in our new Jazz Lines Publications 'Big Band Classics' library! Arranged by Hal Mooney and perform...

AS RECORDED BY FRANK SINATRA WITH COUNT BASIE ARRANGED BY NEAL HEFTI Jazz Lines Publications presents this classic Neal Hefti big band arrangement from the 1962 Frank Sinatra and Count Basie collabora...

AS RECORDED BY HELEN O'CONNELL ARRANGED BY MARION EVANS This is a tremendous chart from master arranger Marion Evans, recorded by Helen O'Connell for her 'Here's Helen' album. This is not a transcript...

AS PERFORMED BY HELEN O'CONNELL ARRANGED BY SAMMY NESTICO Arranged by Sammy Nestico for singer Helen O'Connnell, this swinging arrangement was never recorded to the best of our knowledge. It was, howe...

AS RECORDED BY FRANK SINATRA WITH COUNT BASIE ARRANGED BY QUINCY JONES, TRANSCRIBED BY SYD POTTER Here is another classic Sinatra arrangement, this one from the pen of Quincy Jones. In 1966 Frank Sina...

AS RECORDED BY FRANK SINATRA ARRANGED BY NELSON RIDDLE, ADAPTED BY ROB DUBOFF Late in 1955 and early in 1956 Frank Sinatra went into the Capitol Studio with Nelson Riddle and recorded one of the best...

AS PERFORMED BY FRANK SINATRA ARRANGED BY NEAL HEFTI, TRANSCRIBED BY SYD POTTER Here is Neal Hefti's brilliant chart from the Frank Sinatra recording 'Sinatra and Swingin' Brass.' This medium swing ch...

ADAPTED FROM THE RECORDING BY FRANK SINATRA ARRANGED BY NELSON RIDDLE, TRANSCRIBED BY SYD POTTER Well, here is another classic, instantly recognizable Frank Sinatra arrangement. This chart comes from...

AS RECORDED BY HELEN O'CONNELL ARRANGED BY MARION EVANS Here is Helen O'Connell's original arrangement of 'I Cried for You' from her 1962 'Here's Helen' album. This is not a transcription, the origina...

AS RECORDED BY FRANK SINATRA ARRANGED BY NELSON RIDDLE, TRANSCRIBED AND ADAPTED BY WALT STUART Late in 1955 and early in 1956 Frank Sinatra went into the Capitol Studio with Nelson Riddle and recorded...