The Kings of Swing (We Three Kings): Jazz Ensemble Conductor Score & Parts

Story has a gift for choosing settings that let young players feel like real jazz musicians from rehearsal one. The jazz waltz frame here transforms a familiar carol into something swinging and fresh, and the optional parts mean you can scale the instrumentation to exactly who shows up on any given day.

Elegant and swaying, with the warmth of a holiday classic wrapped in jazz sophistication. The waltz lilt gives it a gentle, almost ballroom quality, making it feel more sophisticated than the grade level suggests while remaining joyful and accessible.

This is ideal for first-year jazz ensemble directors working with middle school or early high school players who are learning the jazz language for the first time. You get a complete, holiday-ready chart that doesn't require virtuoso soloists or complex section reading.

• Lock the rhythm section pocket early. The waltz meter is the foundation; get your bass and drums grooving together before layering in horns.
• Work the tenor solo separately if needed. It's brief and written accessibly, but giving that soloist space to feel confident makes the whole performance land better.
• Balance the harmonies by checking them section by section. Young players sometimes cover each other; isolate voicings to hear if all four voices are present and blending.

Program this as a standalone holiday offering or pair it with a more traditional instrumental arrangement of a winter carol to show stylistic contrast. It comes together fast enough to add to a December concert even if you start rehearsals in November.

• Jazz articulation and phrasing in a waltz meter (3/4)
• Reading jazz harmonies and chord symbols
• Supporting a solo with ensemble texture and dynamics
• Balancing written melody with background voicings
• Playing with swing feel in a non-standard time signature