Hey Pocky Way: Jazz Ensemble Conductor Score & Parts

Eric Richards captures the infectious pocket and swagger of The Meters' original without requiring your ensemble to master the intricate guitar work and organ voicings that made the song a funk classic. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band treatment gives your students a legitimate jazz context for playing material with genuine New Orleans DNA, all while keeping the Grade 4 reading level accessible. It's a repertoire choice that brings real musical personality to your stand without pretending to be something it isn't.

Infectious and propulsive from the downbeat, with a groove that settles into your bones rather than demanding technical showiness. The arrangement breathes with the confidence of New Orleans funk while maintaining the brass band energy that the Dirty Dozen Brass Band made famous, creating a sound that's simultaneously laid-back and intensely driving.

Jazz ensembles at the upper middle school or early high school level who are ready for funk and groove-based repertoire with real stylistic substance. It works equally well for groups seeking to program something with undeniable musicality that also gives musicians permission to play with attitude and swagger. Directors building curricula that include New Orleans traditions alongside more traditional jazz standards will find this essential.

• Lock the rhythm section first. The success of this arrangement lives entirely in the pocket, so spend rehearsal time with drums, bass, and piano working the groove in isolation before layering in the horns.
• Listen to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's recorded version to internalize the attitude and space in the arrangement. Eric Richards adapted their signature sound, so knowing their approach to phrasing and dynamics will inform every section.
• Shape the brass stabs with crisp articulation and unified dynamics. These punctuation marks define the arrangement's character, so treat them as ensemble moment rather than individual lines.
• Encourage your rhythm section players to listen to the original Meters recording. Understanding what the source material feels like will deepen their commitment to maintaining the authentic groove throughout.

Slot this into a concert program right after a ballad or uptempo jazz standard to shift the energy and remind your audience that jazz is a living, breathing tradition rooted in funk and street music. It's an ideal closer or centerpiece for a concert themed around regional jazz traditions, or a perfect palette cleanser when you're programming a mix of classical and contemporary work. The Grade 4 reading level makes it accessible enough to feature without overcomplicating your programming timeline.

• Lock-step ensemble timekeeping in a funk idiom
• Phrasing and articulation in a New Orleans brass context
• Listening and responding to rhythm section groove
• Stylistic control of dynamics and space within a repetitive harmonic structure
• Syncopated rhythmic figures over a straight four-beat pulse