Selections from Chicago: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
Arranged by Ted Ricketts
Grade: 3
Item: 35-PK01198622
$80.00
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Description
Music from this academy award-winning movie is rapidly gaining popularity as it harkens back to the early jazz age and raucous life style of gangster-era Chicago. This well-scored arrangement opens with a bluesy trumpet solo and includes feature spots for all sections of the band as it winds through the hits "And All That Jazz," "Cell Block Tango," "Roxie" and "They Both Reached for the Gun."
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Additional Details
Publisher:
Hal Leonard
SKU:
35-PK01198622
More about this title
About the Arranger: Ted Ricketts
Ted Ricketts has built a reputation as an arranger who understands how to translate the energy and harmonic language of jazz and popular music into idiomatic concert band writing. His arrangements balance accessibility with musical substance, making them valuable tools for directors who want to program contemporary material without sacrificing ensemble development.
Why we love this
Ricketts captures the speakeasy swagger of the source material while distributing the melodic and rhythmic interest across your entire band. Every section gets a moment to shine, and the Grade 3 difficulty sits at that sweet spot where students feel challenged by the jazz idioms and ensemble coordination without drowning in technical demands.
What to expect
You're in a basement jazz club where the energy is tight, the horns are brassy, and the rhythms push forward with infectious swagger. The music crackles with syncopation and chromatic movement, grounded by a strong rhythmic foundation that gives everything momentum and purpose.
Who it's for
Bands ready to move beyond traditional concert fare and engage with contemporary musical theater material. The Grade 3 setting serves growing programs that have solid fundamentals and want to explore jazz vocabulary without the reading difficulty of advanced swing arrangements.
How to get the most out of it
- Shape the bluesy trumpet solo with a conversational phrasing; let it breathe between phrases rather than pushing through as a single statement.
- Balance the sax section's harmonic support in 'Cell Block Tango' so the comping doesn't overwhelm the melodic content. Listen for clarity in the upper woodwind line.
- Lock the rhythm section (low brass and percussion) into a tight grid during the faster passages. These songs live and die by groove, so invest rehearsal time here.
- Mark the dynamic shifts carefully with your students. The raucous quality depends on contrast; make sure your softer sections actually recede.
How to use it
This works beautifully as a bridge between your concert season and pops concert, or as a standalone program element for a Musical Theater or Jazz Connections concert. The medley format also makes it suitable for preview concerts or community events where you want maximum impact in a single piece.
Skills your students will build
- Jazz articulation and phrasing conventions
- Reading syncopated rhythms across changing harmonic contexts
- Balanced voicing in sustained jazz harmonies
- Ensemble precision in groove-based passages
- Dynamic contrast and stylistic flexibility