Jazz Philharmonic: Second Set: Cello Book & Online Audio

Phillips writes jazz for strings with genuine pedagogical intent rather than forced crossover. The Second Set deepens what students learned in the original collection by offering more solos, richer backgrounds, and the kind of harmonic and rhythmic complexity that keeps players engaged without overwhelming them. Recorded accompaniments let your ensemble sound complete immediately, which matters enormously when you're teaching an idiom most string players have never encountered.

Accessible yet sophisticated. These charts swing with genuine jazz character while remaining playable for developing musicians. The cello voice alternates between driving the harmony, grooving with the rhythm section, and carrying melody, giving cellists real agency in the ensemble sound.

String orchestras and large string classes seeking substantive jazz repertoire for beginning through advanced players. Both cellists new to jazz and those with some experience will find material that develops their language within a full ensemble context.

• Lock into the swing feel by listening closely to the recording's articulation and phrasing before attempting any solo. The rhythm section's groove is your anchor, not the written note values.
• Treat the bass lines as compositional elements, not just accompaniment. These parts contain the harmonic movement and establish the jazz language cellists need to internalize.
• Explore the notated solos first as written. Once students can execute them cleanly, use them as springboards for paraphrasing and eventual improvisation.
• Pay attention to dynamic shape within phrases. Jazz phrasing often requires subtle swells and releases that written dynamics alone won't capture; model this from the recording.

Use this collection as your primary jazz unit in the spring semester or as a stand-alone concert bracketed by classical work. The recorded accompaniments make these pieces performance-ready quickly, freeing rehearsal time for phrasing and nuance. Mix tunes from both the original Jazz Philharmonic and the Second Set to show stylistic progression and keep the unit fresh across multiple rehearsals.

• Swing articulation and rhythmic interpretation
• Reading and performing notated jazz solos
• Understanding jazz harmony and chord changes
• Listening to and locking with a rhythm section
• Improvisation over jazz progressions
• Phrasing and shaping within a groove context