Movie Songs by Special Arrangement: Flute/Oboe Book & Online Audio

Strommen has stripped away the improvisation requirement while preserving everything that makes jazz swing. You get the harmonic sophistication, the rhythmic freedom, and the character of these timeless movie standards written directly into the flute and oboe parts. It's the rare intermediate arrangement that respects both the music's elegance and your students' current abilities.

Stepping into a 1930s cocktail lounge where the standards are timeless, the arrangements are sophisticated but never showy, and swing is a given, not a goal. Each melody sits naturally under your fingers while the harmonies underneath suggest a full rhythm section supporting your every phrase.

Intermediate flute and oboe players ready to explore jazz idioms without the added cognitive load of improvisation. This book works equally well in jazz ensemble classes, wind bands with jazz components, or for solo practice with the accompaniment tracks.

• Listen through the online audio before rehearsal to lock in the swing feel and the specific tempo. These songs breathe in ways that can't be captured by a written tempo marking alone.
• Treat the rhythm section as your bandmates, not as background. Cue the ensemble consciously at transitions, especially around variation sections where the accompaniment might shift character.
• Shape the melodic lines with the understanding that these were written for singers. Vibrato, phrasing, and dynamic shaping matter as much as note accuracy; let the lyrics inform how you breathe and shape.

These 11 tunes make an ideal jazz concert program on their own, or mix individual selections into a mixed-repertoire concert to showcase your jazz ensemble's ability to handle song-form material with maturity. They also serve beautifully in educational demonstrations of jazz arranging principles, where students can study how written melody and harmony create swing.

• Reading and performing swing rhythms and eighth-note feels
• Phrasing jazz standards with appropriate articulation and vibrato
• Maintaining ensemble cohesion over a rhythm section accompaniment
• Understanding jazz harmony through melody-chord relationships
• Differentiating playing style across variation sections and solo breaks