Exciting Dixieland: Trumpet Book

Bright, conversational, and rhythmically alive. The trumpet part dances through classic New Orleans territory, sometimes leading with confident melodic statements and sometimes settling into supportive countermelody. There's joy in the writing, with room for personality and swing.

High school and college jazz ensembles with intermediate to advanced trumpet players who want to develop vocabulary and confidence in a small-group jazz idiom. This book works equally well for students building their first jazz solos or experienced players refining their Dixieland phrasing.

• Listen closely to the ensemble during ensemble passages. The trumpet's rhythmic independence in early jazz means you're supporting forward momentum, not locking rigidly to the bass.
• Lean into the articulation differences between straight eighth notes and swung eighths. Your phrasing shapes the groove more than the actual notes do.
• Treat vibrato as a textural choice, not a constant. Straight tone on certain passages gives you more flexibility for the blue notes and bent phrases that define the style.
• Check the recorded accompaniment for ensemble blend. Dixieland trumpet can cut through, but the goal is dialogue, not dominance.

Pair this with a Dixieland-focused unit in your jazz curriculum, or program one of these tunes as a standalone feature at a winter or spring concert to show audiences that jazz history is still living repertoire. The 28-page collection gives you enough material to rotate throughout a semester without wearing out any single arrangement.

• Jazz articulation and swing interpretation
• Solo construction over Dixieland changes
• Reading and executing blue notes and bent pitches
• Ensemble listening and interaction in small-group settings
• Balancing lead role and supporting voice within the same tune