You're Looking At Me: Choral Instrumental Pak

Kirby Shaw's arrangement captures the intimate quality of Cole's original while giving your ensemble room to breathe into the harmonies. The laid-back feel and tasteful chord voicings reward singers who commit to sensitive dynamic control and rhythmic precision, making this an ideal vehicle for demonstrating what jazz ensemble training actually sounds like in performance.

The piece settles into a contemplative, intimate space. You'll hear the warmth and directness that made Cole a singular voice in American music: unhurried, genuinely felt, and aware of every word.

Vocal jazz ensembles with solid sight-reading skills and at least a season of jazz repertoire under their belts will find this ballad immediately gratifying to work on. High school groups aiming for a polished concert closer and college ensembles seeking a standard that tests their sensitivity will both find rewarding material here.

• Anchor the ballad's emotional center by establishing the lyrical storyline before thinking about the harmony. Each section of the ensemble should know what the melody is saying, even when comping underneath.
• Sit comfortably behind the beat without dragging; jazz time in a ballad context lives in the space between strict and loose, so rehearse with a metronome but allow the breath of rubato in key phrases.
• Balance the voicings by listening for blend across chord tones rather than forcing equal volume on every part. In Cole's repertoire, sophistication comes from singers who disappear into the harmony.
• Let the recorded version inform your phrasing, but avoid copying it wholesale. Find your own singers' connection to the lyrics while honoring the harmonic language Shaw has set up.

Close a jazz concert with this ballad to send the audience out in a reflective frame of mind, or position it as the emotional anchor in a program that alternates between up-tempo charts. The song's universal familiarity makes it an excellent choice for audiences hearing vocal jazz for the first time.

• Sustained legit tone production in a jazz idiom
• Voice leading across jazz harmonies with chromatic movement
• Laying back rhythmically while maintaining ensemble cohesion
• Dynamic control and phrasing within a ballad form
• Listening for blend and balance in four-part voicing