Take the Lead Plus: Jazz Standards: B-flat Woodwind Instruments Book & CD

Sophisticated without being stuffy. These arrangements honor the swing and sophistication of the originals while maintaining clear part writing that lets you focus on phrasing, dynamics, and the specific inflections that make jazz singing. Playing Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn arrangements alongside Hoagy Carmichael feels like joining a real jazz tradition.

Woodwind players (saxophone, clarinet, and soprano players reading B-flat concert pitch instruments) who are new to jazz performance or building ensemble reading skills. This works equally well for young middle school musicians discovering jazz and high school students broadening their stylistic range beyond classical concert band literature.

• Listen to the recorded demonstration multiple times before rehearsal so your section can hear how their part sits in the arrangement. This transforms note-reading into musical placement.
• Lock into the swing feel early by tapping eighth-note triplets internally; don't wait until performance week to find the pocket.
• Balance the melody line with the harmony parts by rehearsing tutti passages with the lead part intentionally softer first, then gradually bringing B-flat voices up until the blend feels natural.
• Use the accompaniment track for sectional work and individual practice, allowing players to build confidence in their part against real jazz grooves before full ensemble.

Slot these into a spring concert program to give audiences a taste of something different from your concert band staples, or use them as the foundation for a small jazz combos unit in general music class. The familiar melodies make them excellent repertoire for chamber music class assignments or for motivating wind players who think jazz is only for brass.

• Swing articulation and phrasing appropriate to jazz idiom
• Interpretation of jazz notation including swing eighths and syncopated rhythms
• Ensemble balance and blend in small group settings
• Listening and responding to accompaniment rather than conducting
• Chord awareness and harmonic context for melodic lines
• Expressive dynamic control and stylistic rubato