Notation Software Users Forum  


Go Back   Notation Software Users Forum > Musician community sharing > Share Your Music

Share Your Music Share your .not or .mid files of your arrangements or compositions.

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #1  
Old 09-21-2011, 04:45 PM
rrayner rrayner is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 897
Default Chesapeake Swing Band Medley #1

The "Chesapeake Swing Band Medley #1" is a medley of three songs: 1) "Cheek To Cheek", composed by Irving Berlin in 1935 for the movie "Top Hat"; 2) "Secret Love" composed by Sammy Fain in 1953 for the musical "Calamity Jane"; and 3) "Too Close For Comfort" composed by Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener, & George David Weiss in 1956 for the musical "Mr. Wonderful". The "Chesapeake Swing Band" is a dance/swing band centered in Southern Maryland and headed up by my friend, Jim Meadows.

These songs are old standards (are far as swing dance music is concerned), and I always loved to play them, back when I was a working musician. As I had never written arrangements for these songs, and they fit the genre of music played by Jim's group, I decided to make a medley of them for him. This is a little bit of a change of plans for me -- I haven't finished keying in the last of my arrangements from the '60s yet (one more to go), but I needed a break to try something new.

The instrumentation is standard for a swing/dance band: 5 Saxes (2 Altos, 2 Tenors, Baritone); 4 Trumpets; 4 Trombones (3 Tenor, 1 Bass); and Rhythm Section (Electric Guitar, Piano, Bass, Drums). Actually, you won't hear much piano in this, as the piano part is mostly chord symbols.

You can play the attached original .not file, or go to BoxNet to hear the mp3 file, as it would sound on my Yamaha Clavinova CVP-405. Go to:

http://www.box.net/shared/sbal7mvl77npf53m4iog

Back in my school days, 50 years ago, this style would be referred to as "commercial" -- something that has a happy, danceable sound to it, without getting too close to the jazz idiom, but with a little bit of swing. The voicings are intentionally "plain vanilla" -- not much richness in the chords, except in the final ending, but I think it comes off fairly well. The musical cliches are intentional. Also, there are no drum fills -- just solid rhythm, keeping the songs moving. I'm not pleased with the choppiness of the sax solis (ensembles), but I haven't found a way to smooth them out. The legato is better on the brass. Also, I have filled in the Guitar part with 4-note chords. The voicings may not be playable in tempo by a live guitarist as written, but they fulfill my requirement for the sound of a rhythm guitar. At least each chord is playable by itself.

Note that I have left the "swing notation" (quarter/eighth note triplets) in place. I've had some problems with the "swing to standard" conversion. It makes it a little bit harder to read, but I need to deliver the proper swing feel.

I hope you enjoy listening to this arrangement.

Ralph Rayner
Attached Files
File Type: not Chesapeake Swing Band Medley #1.not (1.17 MB, 23 views)

Last edited by rrayner; 01-18-2015 at 03:18 PM. Reason: Updated attachment & BoxNet link
Reply With Quote
 

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 01:48 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Notation Software Germany GmbH www.notation.com/Imprint.php