Sing, You Sinners: E-Z Play Today

This selection captures Bennett's signature approach to swing standards in an accessible two-page format that works well for students exploring jazz interpretation. The arrangement respects the melody while leaving room for pianists to develop their own interpretive choices within the jazz idiom.

The tune has a conversational warmth that invites storytelling. Even within its compact two-page scope, there's room to explore the tension between the melody's conversational ease and the implied swing groove that wants to lift it into motion.

Piano students working toward jazz standards fluency and teachers building units on American songbook interpretation. This piece works particularly well for intermediate pianists ready to explore swing feel and lyrical accompaniment textures.

• Listen to Bennett's recorded version to absorb his phrasing choices and sense of swing; note how he shapes phrases around the lyric rather than strictly metering them
• Develop sensitivity to the rhythm section's pocket, resisting the urge to rush ahead on stronger beats and instead sitting back into a relaxed swing feel
• Shape dynamic contours within phrases to highlight emotional peaks in the lyric, letting quieter moments breathe before building toward phrase resolutions

Pair this with other Bennett standards to create a focused set on jazz vocal interpretation, or use it as a solo piano selection in a program highlighting standards from the 1930s and 1940s. Students can prepare this alongside listening to different arrangements to compare interpretive approaches.

• swing rhythm and feel in a jazz context
• accompaniment texture choices that complement vocal phrasing
• lyric-driven interpretation and musical storytelling
• chord voicing and reharmonization options within a standard form