I Got Rhythm: Choral Octavo SoundTrax CD

Mark Hayes refuses to let this become a nostalgia piece. Instead, he amplifies the syncopation, layers the voices into a rhythmic machine, and keeps the energy from dipping for a second. Your singers will feel genuinely energized by the arrangement, not just executing a familiar tune.

Pure forward motion. The arrangement propels itself through bright, syncopated voicing and keeps the listener's foot moving. It's the choral equivalent of that moment in a jazz performance when everything clicks and the room feels alive.

Choirs at the high school level and beyond who can handle rhythmic complexity and want to perform something that sounds contemporary, joyful, and genuinely exciting. Directors who need a chart that proves to audiences that choral music doesn't require darkness or difficulty to command attention.

• Lock the rhythmic interpretation between your choral sections and the recorded accompaniment before anything else. The power lives in absolute synchronization with the groove.
• Treat the syncopation as dance material, not as something to iron out. Singers should feel permission to swing the rhythms rather than land them metronomically.
• Balance the voiced counterlines carefully so the ensemble doesn't blur into a wall of sound. Hayes gives you real voice leading; let it speak.
• Lean into the dynamics marked by Hayes. The shifts in volume and intensity are structural, not decorative.

Pair this as a second half opener or closer on a concert where you want an immediate energy shift. It works beautifully after something introspective or classical, and it leaves the audience smiling. Consider programming it alongside other Hayes arrangements to showcase the range of his orchestrational thinking.

• Rhythmic precision in syncopated passages (anticipations, ties across bar lines)
• Singing swing eighth notes and stylized articulation
• Blending voices across independent rhythmic lines
• Intonation in close harmony typical of jazz voicing
• Interpretation of jazz-influenced dynamics and phrasing