How High the Moon: SATB Choral Octavo

Jay Althouse's samba reimagining breathes new life into an already versatile standard. The tight harmonies and scat section demand real musicianship from your singers while keeping the energy infectious and fun, making this an ideal choice for choirs ready to explore jazz language with sophisticated arranging.

Sophisticated and playful at once. The samba setting gives familiar material tropical warmth and forward momentum, while the scat section channels pure joy and improvisation. Harmonically rich but never heavy, this arrangement sparkles with the ease of something that sounds effortless to sing but takes real craft to pull off.

Intermediate to advanced SATB choirs comfortable with jazz idioms and scat singing. This octavo suits groups with strong rhythm section fundamentals and singers willing to embrace contemporary styling alongside a classic tune.

• Listen to multiple original recordings before rehearsal. Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, and Billie Holiday all took different approaches; knowing how the melody can bend will help singers understand that this tune rewards interpretation, not just note-reading.
• Lock the scat section early in rehearsals. The rhythmic precision required for scat passages (both individually and as a section) will define the arrangement's success; treat it like a rhythm section learning a swing feel, not singers reading words.
• Use the recorded accompaniment to establish the samba groove and feel. This unfamiliar rhythm style benefits from hearing the actual pulse and percussion texture before your singers have to nail their harmonies on top of it.
• Shape the melody so it sits above the harmonic motion without overwhelming it. In jazz-influenced arrangements, the top line often shares the stage; resist the urge to belt and instead focus on phrasing that complements the samba style.

Program this for a pop or jazz-focused concert, or use it as a bridge between a classic standards set and contemporary choral repertoire. The samba style and recorded accompaniment make it equally effective in informal settings like community events or outreach performances where audience familiarity with the tune is an asset.

• Scat singing technique and syllable articulation
• Jazz phrasing and swing feel within a Latin rhythm
• Reading and performing samba rhythms as a choral ensemble
• Balancing individual voice lines within close jazz harmonies
• Interpreting a standard across different stylistic contexts