Listen Here: 3rd Trombone

Zachary Smith's arrangement captures everything that makes Harris's compositional voice work so well for young ensembles: a groove that grabs attention immediately, written solos that give your section leaders something substantial to play, and a structure that builds momentum without demanding virtuosity. At Grade 2, this reads cleanly while delivering a performance that sounds polished and contemporary.

Listen Here pulses with a funkiness rooted in the groove, not the flashiness. There's a swagger to it, an ease that comes from everyone knowing exactly where the beat lives. The written solos feel conversational, the ensemble sections snap, and the development section lets the band breathe before the stop-time moment pulls everything tight again.

Jazz ensemble directors looking for a Grade 2 chart that sounds Grade 4 in the room. This works for high school jazz bands wanting something contemporary and contest-ready, and for advanced middle school programs with solid fundamentals and section leadership.

• Lock the rhythmic foundation first. The funky groove at 140 BPM lives in the precision of your rhythm section, not the precision of your soloist. Get drums, bass, and piano locked before layering horns.
• Shape the written solos with intent. The tenor and trumpet solos are scaffolded, not simplified. Encourage players to find where the line breathes and to phrase through the bar lines rather than stopping at them.
• Lift the stop-time interlude with silence. Those gaps are as important as the notes. Rehearse the ensemble's entrance cues carefully so the hits land with impact.
• Balance the bass solo as a feature. With a written melody line for bass, treat it as a spotlight moment, not a background accompaniment moment. Your bassist deserves to be heard.

This fits perfectly into a jazz concert as a first-set opener or as the closing energy lift. It's also contest-ready at the Grade 2 level, making it an ideal choice for regional festivals where you want your ensemble to sound tight and contemporary. Pair it with a ballad to show range, or build a set around its modern jazz-rock sensibility.

• Maintaining a steady groove at 140 BPM while reading
• Improvising within written solo frameworks (tenor and trumpet)
• Responding to stop-time cues and ensemble entrances
• Balancing melody against comping rhythm in a section context
• Shaping phrased lines across barlines in a blues-based harmonic context