Download Big Band    Ya gotta love technology!  These days, a simple Yamaha keyboard can crank out all the subtleties of a big band arrangement.  It takes awhile, but the results are amazing and well worth the trouble.  If you like big band, that is.

“Almost Like Being in Love” is a song from the Lerner and Lowe musical Brigadoon.  I personally detest Broadway music, but many tunes have been taken out of a musical and turned into something palatable.  Sinatra did just that with this little gem.  Nat King Cole cranked out a pretty nifty arrangement too.  Brigadoon (the musical -ugh) premiered on Groundhog Day in 1947.  Coincidentally, the movie Groundhog Day (starring Bill Murray in 1993) featured Cole’s version.  If you remember, Murray’s character relives the same day over and over again in the film.  Finally, he wakes up to a new day and is mighty happy the fiasco is over.  It’s then that the soundtrack brings in a smooth Nat King Cole singing the first line “What a day this has been…” –  very cool.  Oh, and don’t look up the musical – it’s just plain silly.

The big band arrangement works well in South Florida Golf Country clubs, as they like everything big and brassy down there.  We like the way Cole did it and it works just fine for smaller venues and older crowds.  Your choice.  You can download the smoother Cole arrangement off the Jazz/Swing list – it’s version 2.

  Download with Lead    In 1954, a chap named Bart Howard was working as a piano player in a New York cabaret.  He’d been in the music business twenty years and was still pounding away as an accompaniest for those pesky, ego-inflated cabaret singers who looked down their noses at mere musicians.  They were the real stars of the show, after all.  I feel his pain – I’ve worked with vocalists with just that attitude.  But our Mr. Howard penned a song this particular year that set him up for life.  He called it “In Other Words”.

Kaye Ballard was the first to record “In Other Words”, followed by the likes of Johnny Mathis and Nancy Wilson.  Peggy Lee made it even more popular in 1960 when she sang it on The Ed Sullivan Show and she eventually convinced Bart Howard to change the name of the song to …  you guessed it (if you’ve been listening to my version above)… “Fly Me to the Moon”.  Of course, Sinatra made it huge in ’64, accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra and arranged by Quincy Jones.  This is one of those songs that improves with age and better musicians.

“Fly Me” was used in numerous television shows and movies.  In the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati, Jennifer’s doorbell played the song.  Tony Bennett performed a parody of it on Sesame Street when “Slimy the Worm” took a trip to the moon (okaaaay).  Sinatra’s version became closely associated with the NASA Apollo space program.  It was the first music heard on the moon when Astronaut Buzz Aldrin broke out his portable cassette player when he first stepped out on the lunar surface.

So if you’re looking for a standard jazz piece to perform onstage, you might want to try our version of “Fly Me to the Moon”.  Singers, you’ll get your key from the two single piano notes at the top  (E octaves).  Subtle, huh?  Pay attention to the playful flute on track 3… very cool, I think.

(Jazz-Swing list)

  Download Here    Oh, sure… I took music theory, counterpoint, orchestration and arranging in college, but it doesn’t prepare you for writing and producing a big band tune.  Nothing can get you ready for that daunting task.  It’s like an artist sitting down in front of a blank canvas and being expected to make something out of nothing.  If you’re a vocalist working alone in something other than a country music venue, you’re gonna want to do a big band once in a while- and you need good backup tracks.  I understand that – but, man, these things are a bitch to put together.

Okay, no more whining.  This a terrific song and worth the trouble.  But I have to point out that you singers get to step out there and belt it out with that natural vocal talent that comes so easily to you… and you get all the accolades and the star power and the money and….. I SAID NO MORE WHINING!  Sorry.  “Summer Wind” was first recorded by Wayne Newton, then Bobby Vinton, then Perry Como.  Finally, in 1966, Frank Sinatra came along and did it right.  Everything Sinatra touched turned to gold.  But then, he had a vocal gift that came naturally and he didn’t have to study or spends hours arranging or…. oh, never mind.  Just sing it!

  Download    This song ultimately became a jazz standard after it was first performed by child star Mitzi Green in the Broadway musical Babes in Arms.  In the original play, Mitzi’s character sings it to Valentine “Val” Lamar (played by Ray Heatherton), poking fun at some of his odd characteristics.  So, you see, this tune has absolutely nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, but musicians insist on playing it anyway on the big day.  We’re an insufferable bunch.

“My Funny Valentine” has been recorded by everyone from Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald – all in the same boring, maudlin style.  They drag out that first “Myyyyyy” so long you’re sure that’s the only word in the song.  We arranged our own version as a slow foxtrot that your crowd can dance to without falling asleep on the floor.  If you’re going to trot this one out yet again on Valentine’s Day, give this arrangement a try.  It’s on the Jazz/Swing list.

  Download with Lead    If I had to spend the rest of my life on a deserted island (oh, please) and could only take one style of music with me – it would be Bossa Nova.  And it would be the Bossa compositions of Antonio Carlos Jobim.  He was the Brazilian songwriter and singer who was the primary force behind the creation of the Bossa Nova style.  His best known work is “Girl From Ipanema” (one of the most recorded songs of all time), but other gems like “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” and “How Insensitive” are just as gorgeous and oh, so romantic.  If you ever lose that sense of romance in your life, just listen to some Jobim and all will be well again.

“Meditation” is one of his best, I think.  I first heard it long ago by Claudine Longet (wife of Andy Williams).  Her sultry French accent coupled with a seductive bossa rhythm was intoxicating to this author at the tender age of 17.  Never mind that she couldn’t really sing that well – didn’t matter.  I loved this song the moment I heard it and it was a wonderful introduction to Brazilian music.  I think what I love most about Bossa is that the vocals are always just a hair behind the music. I find that incredibly sexy – don’t ask me why.

Karen does an outstanding job on this arrangement – always my favorite part of any set.  It really should have an acoustic guitar somewhere in the mix, but I opted for electric piano instead – so sue me.  Now…. what kind of food would I take to that deserted island?  I’m thinking…. pizza!

 Unfortunately, this tune is only popular with folks “of a certain age”.  Okay, “Moonglow” was first recorded in 1933, but it’s still a thing of timeless beauty.  If you’re under 30, you’ve most likely never heard of it – and that’s just sad.  Young performing musicians today should give this one a chance.  There are a hundred different ways to do this song, but don’t you dare put it to a “rap” beat.  I’ll hunt you down… and it won’t be pretty.

“Moonglow” is usually done as a slow foxtrot with a straightforward 32 bar arrangement in the form of AABA – that is,  verse-verse-bridge-verse.  We save this one for when we want to keep our dancers on the floor for a long time.  The singer takes the first 32 bars, then it’s 32 bars of a solo instrument, then another 32 bars for the vocalist.  That’s the entire song done three times, so there’s plenty of time for dancers to cuddle… and they will.  It’s just that kind of song…. and we all like to cuddle, don’t we?

I’m using piano as the lead line (imagine that) and also piano for the solo.  If you’re a single performer, punch out the piano (track 4) while you sing the first 32, then punch it in for the piano solo.  Of course, take the piano lead out for your final 32 (like I have to tell you).  Duos might do it a bit differently, but this arrangement is easy to play around with (never end a sentence with a preposition – just sayin’).  If you’re a larger group, you probably don’t need my backups at all.  Whatever… just do this song!  I don’t ever want it to go away.

  Right-Click to Save    This is a blue light special at K-Mart. What I mean is, do this song in the middle of the third set, lights down onstage except for beautiful blue spots on the singer.  Dramatic and subtle at the same time.  Just a suggestion…

This one has become a jazz standard and was first recorded by “The DeCarlo Sisters” (who?) in 1954.  The 78 RPM record of them doing the song is considered quite the collector’s item.  A guy with the unlikely name of “maynardcat” found a unique way to show off his record (click link below).  Those were the days.

This should be a simple song with not too much instrumentation, so I might have mucked it up a bit with the violin track.  Of course, you can always mute that track if you agree that I got carried away.  It’s on the jazz/swing list.  And don’t forget the blue spots….

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=teach+me+tonight+the+decastro+sisters+video&FORM=VIRE15#view=detail&mid=05E735C7B5C248EDF9D505E735C7B5C248EDF9D5

  Right-Click to Save    This tale of oh, so passionate love was first recorded by a man by the name of Little Willie John. He was a major influence on R&B singers in the ’60s but nobody much knows about him today… maybe because he stabbed a man to death and died in prison at the tender age of 30…. that’ll kick your career in the butt.

Of course, the most famous version of “Fever” belongs to Peggy Lee.  She recorded it in 1958 and the lyrics were considered quite racy at the time… hence, its popularity.  I always thought her rendition was pretty boring, except for the finger-snapping (cool).  So our performance of the song runs more along the lines of Micahel Buble.  It’s a little weird, but interesting, I think.  The backup tracks are on the Jazz/Swing list.