Hi Ralph,
You know, as I've been listening to this piece previously I thought it sounded a lot like some of my favorite military jazz band pieces, and now I know why
I didn't know you were the staff arranger (I found you in the History of the Airmen of Note, at
http://www.airmenofnote.com/history/Osiecki3&4.htm) but it sure makes sense to me!
I'd mentioned before that I love this bass line (that of course being one of the first things I listen to as a bass player
) You've done a great job of bringing this performance to life using the MIDI tools in Composer. Not to mention it's always really cool to see how the arrangement is done. You obviously put a lot of work into the score. That was a neat idea, to put in the chord names for the pianist in the conductor's score. (We do have it on the "to do" list to support placing the chord names above whichever staff/staves you want, not just the top staff.)
Thanks so much for sharing this! I don't play keys, but I just might try playing a bass solo (or maybe whistle) over that solo section. That'll be a lot of fun.
I'll also consider this a birthday present, since that's when you wrote it
Just great! I for one will be looking forward to seeing and hearing more from you!
ttfn,
Sherry
p.s. Searching ("googling") for "Airmen of Note" turns up a lot of good information and some audio recordings as well, for those who are interested.