A Touch of Jazz!: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Brubaker threads six genuine jazz standards into a cohesive medley that never feels stitched together. The Grade 3 setting means your students engage with real jazz vocabulary, syncopation, section dialogue, swing articulation, without drowning in complexity, and the 6:25 runtime gives you a substantial concert piece that doesn't overextend rehearsal patience.

Cool, relaxed, and groove-centered. The medley swings from the bluesy comfort of 'Swingin' Shepherd Blues' through the sophisticated repose of 'Round Midnight,' landing on the infectious groove of 'Take Five.' There's an ease to it that makes both players and listeners feel like insiders to the jazz world.

Conductors with intermediate concert bands who want a setlist piece that works equally well in a concert or festival setting. This is also ideal for directors introducing students to jazz repertoire; the medley format lets you teach multiple jazz languages (blues changes, bebop melody, modal vamp) in one rehearsal arc.

• Establish a consistent swing eighth-note feel from the first measure; this is the connective tissue between movements. Spend time with your rhythm section locking in before the full band enters.
• Balance the melody voices in the saxophone and trumpet sections against the backdrop of comping rhythms. Too much weight on the top will flatten the texture.
• Mark the transitions between tunes clearly in your score and parts. Each standard has its own character, so use tempo and dynamic shifts to signal the changes rather than letting them blur together.
• Draw attention to the countermelodies and inner-voice lines that Brubaker includes. These keep the arrangement alive and teach your players how jazz voices conversation with the main line.

Use this as your jazz statement on a concert that otherwise skews classical or contemporary. It's substantial enough to anchor a set without dominating it, and it pairs well with a single concert march or a contemporary wind work. Many directors also program it in the spring when pops concerts are in season.

• Swing feel and jazz articulation (separation and legality in comping figures)
• Reading and executing syncopated rhythms across multiple voices
• Balancing solo lines with ensemble comping textures
• Connecting and executing transitions between contrasting sections
• Blues changes and chord-based improvisation frameworks
• Section independence and dialogue (call-and-response patterns)