-
- Solos
Dysthymia, Maybe is an easy walkin' tune featuring a simplified bluesy unison riff for the melody and easy solo changes in F. This is an easy head tune that gives your horns a nice break while keeping dancers on the floor.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO 
= 125Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Hobbledehoy is a long outdated word meaning a clumsy or awkward youth. This tune captures that spirit while still swinging and providing a perfect foundation for dancers. The melody is mostly in unison with some riffs and 3-part background lines behind the solos. This one is a hit that your band will love!Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 140Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Emerald is a Rocco and the Stompers original that primarily features the alto sax with triad counterpoint a la Johnny Hodges and Duke Ellington. This is a fun an interesting chart considering how relatively easy it is, and it's always a hit with dancers!Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 150Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Vestigiophony is a winding dance tempo swing tune that is loosely based on Wayne Shorter's composition Footprints, if that tune was written and arranged by Duke Ellington for Johnny Hodges' seven piece band. Horns are often concerted in 4-part voicings, all building to solos, then to a shout chorus with drum solo fills.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 4 TEMPO = 160Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Pletchtastic is a tongue-in-cheek titled song commissioned for Club Drosselmeyer. A simple Bb blues riff melody, solos for every instrument, no backgrounds, and a big intro and ending makes this a great opener, closer, or mid-set rest piece for your horns.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 175Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
This Cootie Williams number is a great easy piece that still authentically swings hard. The original recording of Do Some War Work, Baby has a vocal chorus in the middle, but this transcription replaces it with a solo chorus for bari sax and alters the ending to make it fully instrumental. The vocal version can be found here.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 1 TEMPO = 140Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Flip Lid comes from the peak of Les Brown's band, coming out of the swing era with Lunceford and Basie sensibilities, but tapping into the bebop era of Dizzy's and Woody Herman's bands. Featuring the horn section throughout the head and a well balanced shout chorus, this swingin' chart sits right in between two eras of jazz.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Bebop, Swing Era Level 4 TEMPO = 188Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Charlie Barnet wrote a trio of "Idea" pieces: one that paid tribute to Duke Ellington, one that parodied the unhip bands of the day, and this one, The Right Idea, a piece that Barnet felt represented a quintessential swing chart. With solo space for several instruments and some great riffs and lines, you can tell right away that Barnet was spot on!Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 3 TEMPO = 185Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Hot Springs is a catchy mid-tempo Gene Ammons tune that shows jazz in 1949 in flux, transitioning from swing to bebop. The solo order and instrumentation has been slightly altered to fit with the Hodges horn lineup.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Bebop Level 3 TEMPO = 144Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Gene Ammons preaches on in Brother Jug's Sermon, a soulfully grooving dance tune that now fully features bari sax. The horn backgrounds are simple enough--a couple of horn turns and a few suggested high notes in the bari make this an easy level 2. Swing music has never been so hip!Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Bebop, Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 145Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Aside from a little chromaticism on the bridge, You Talk a Little Trash is a solid level 1 swinger. Most of the melody is unison, the changes are simple, the tempo is an easy-going 160bpm, and the lines are timeless. Cootie Williams shows that you can do a lot with a little on this catchy chart.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 1 TEMPO = 160Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
This Cootie Williams number is a great easy piece that still authentically swings hard. Do Some War Work, Baby has a vocal chorus in the middle, but an instrumental adaptation is available here, replacing the vocals with a solo chorus for bari sax and altering the ending.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 1 Vocals Male TEMPO = 140Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
This hip Artie Shaw original features a little of everyone at the perfect dance tempo. Anecdotally, When the Quail Come Back to San Quentin was written in response to a music business insider's request for Shaw to play a sappy hit of the day. Shaw instead went live to air with this antithetical parody that seriously swings.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 3 TEMPO = 170Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Junior Hop is a nice walkin' alto feature with some simple but melodic three-part backgrounds. The trio takes over for a bit on a catchy new melody built on strong triads. The trombone part is a little on the high side for a Level 2 (up to high A).Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 140Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Rendezvous with Rhythm is a unique tune that bridges the gap between hot jazz and swing with plenty of space for solos. Simple riffs and a tidy shout chorus drive this deceptively swinging Ellington/Hodges chart to a quiet and abrupt ending.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 3 TEMPO = 194Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
This obscure tune swings along with great riffs and colorful ensemble moments. I Know What You Do is a bit more chromatic than other level 2 Ellington pieces, but it all fits nicely together.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 180Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Swingin' on the Campus is an aggressive hard swinging tune jam packed with killer riffs and solo space. This simply-constructed piece is built on a variation of rhythm changes and is a difficult level 2 because of the relatively high tempo and brass endurance.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 195Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Empty Ballroom Blues (which is not a blues!) is an Hodges/Ellington piece with great big riffs and big solo sections, and it makes for a great finale number!Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 3 TEMPO = 190Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
This upbeat Hodges/Ellington piece is a variation on the old nursery rhyme The Farmer in the Dell. After a statement of the melody, it's all solos with background riffs until the melody comes back at the end. Swinging in the Dell is a very simple solo vehicle that's great for getting dancers on the floor!Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 190Trumpet
Range
-
- Solos
Dancing on the Stars is a catchy head arrangement that features some nice counterpoint, solo backgrounds, sophisticated harmony compared to many other pieces from the Hodges/Ellington book.Instrumentation Ellington 7-Piece Style Swing Era Level 2 TEMPO = 185Trumpet
Range
Instrumentation: Ellington 7-Piece
STYLE
DIFFICULTY
VOCALS
PERFORMER
SOLOS
