Harlem Nocturne Septet

[rrayner]

Hi Walt,

Yes, the slurs in this instance are simply for phrasing. The arranger does not want to the soloist to sneak a breath within that phrase. It would be very disruptive to the flow of the piece. Unwritten in the score is the implication that the soloist had better take a good breath before entering the next phrase. On a cold read, the soloist might not catch the intent, but thereafter, it will be remembered. Those are fairly long phrases and as they proceed into the lower depths of the tenor sax, a lot more air is required, particularly by the time you get to the sustained low B. I make certain to take a big gulp before the final eighth notes in measures 23 and 31 when entering these phrases.

There are definitely areas in scoring for jazz/big band where notation is a little bit different. Sherry commented one time about my usage of the tenuto symbol (dash over the note head), which in swing notation tells the player not to swing eighth notes, but to play each eighth note evenly, because the unmarked eighth notes are supposed to swing.

If I may enter a plug here for one of my former Berklee instructors, Everett Longstreth has a couple of very good arranging books for jazz and dance band on his website at http://www.everettlongstreth.com/. He was/is a very good instructor.

Ralph