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"Changes Over Time: The Evolution of
Jazz Arranging" is conceived to illustrate,
through comparative case studies, the
dramatic development of rhythmic,
melodic, harmonic, orchestrational, and
structural variation in jazz arranging from
the 1920s to the present. A broad
category of compositions that have each
inspired numerous jazz arrangements was
established, and the arrangements
associated with each of the original works
were examined to determine the level of
quality, the span of jazz history
represented, and the number of renditions
created by historically significant jazz
arrangers, including Don Redman,
Fletcher Henderson, Benny Carter, Duke
Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Gil Evans, Thad
Jones, Bill Holman, Bob Brookmeyer,
and Clare Fischer.
The case studies were narrowed to 35
arrangements of three classic jazz
compositions and one American popular
standard song: Jelly "Roll" Morton's King
Porter Stomp, Don Redman's Chant of
the Weed, Gerald Marks and Seymour
Simon's All Of Me, and Billy Strayhorns
Take The "A" Train.
Scores and/or parts representing nine
decades were supplied by living arrangers,
borrowed from collections, reconstructed
from sketches, or transcribed from
recordings. Four contemporary masters
were ultimately commissioned to create
new arrangements of four selected
compositions. |