Best of Belwin Jazz: First Year Charts Collection for Jazz Ensemble: 1st E-flat Alto Saxophone Book

You get the full swing of a jazz ensemble even in a smaller room. The arrangement choices honor the originals while keeping the page-turning manageable and the harmonic language accessible. Each chart has its own personality, from the blues swagger of "Bill Bailey" to the Latin heat of "Poco Loco" to the holiday energy of "Jingle Bell Rock."

First-year jazz ensemble players ready to move beyond basics into actual jazz repertoire. Alto saxophonists who need parts that sit in the ensemble but also give them moments to shine with written solos.

• Lock the feel with your rhythm section early in rehearsal. The voicing suggestions for piano and chord frames for guitar are written in; use them as your tuning fork for articulation and swing feel.
• The reduced instrumentation settings mean you can run these charts with what you have. Confirm your lineup against the chart before rehearsal so you know which optional parts you need.
• Study the written solos in advance. Even though they're written out, these are still improvised sections; your soloists need time to internalize the phrasing and make it conversational, not mechanical.

Build a jazz concert around these twelve titles. The variety of styles lets you program clusters by mood or energy level without repeating musical terrain. Holiday tunes work naturally for winter concerts; the ballads and waltzes balance out the high-energy swing charts nicely in a full set.

• Jazz articulation and swing feel across multiple tempos
• Reading written improvised sections and phrasing them musically
• Blending in a five-piece saxophone section (or adapting to three)
• Responding to rhythm section grooves in swing, Latin, and straight-feel contexts
• Section cohesion and balance in full ensemble texture