I'll Be Around: E-Z Play Today

This arrangement captures the sophisticated ease that made the Mills Brothers essential listening for understanding vocal jazz vocabulary. The melody sits naturally under the hands while the harmony requires genuine attention to voice leading, making it an ideal bridge between traditional piano repertoire and jazz vocabulary.

Warm, unhurried, and deeply conversational. The song unfolds with the casual sophistication of four friends singing together, inviting the performer to find comfort in the changes rather than pushing the tempo or harmony.

This works for intermediate pianists comfortable with jazz vocabulary and looking to develop swing interpretation. It's particularly valuable for students preparing arrangements or studying vocal jazz history through instrumental transcription.

• Approach the harmony voicings with the clarity of a vocal quartet, keeping each note audible rather than blending into impressionistic block chords.
• Shape the melody with the rhythmic flexibility characteristic of swing phrasing, allowing slight rubato in the vocal line while maintaining steady support underneath.
• Explore the relationship between left and right hand independence, since the accompaniment pattern functions almost as a walking bass line translated to keyboard.

Pair this with other vocal jazz standards arranged for solo piano as part of a unit on jazz repertoire or American songbook traditions. It also serves as an engaging sight reading piece for students exploring the relationship between vocal and keyboard jazz idioms.

• Swing articulation and rhythmic interpretation
• Jazz voicing grammar and chord substitution
• Maintaining independence between melody and comping patterns
• Phrasing within a jazz ballad context