I am in the process of taking the song Joyful Joyful, which is an upbeat, gospel rendition of Beethoven's Ode to Joy featured in Sister Act 2, and arranging it for a big band Jazz ensemble.
My concept is inspired by the Joyful Joyful arrangement by George Furlow, but I am trying to spread the wealth throughout the band, by giving solos and or solis to each section.
This arrangement opens with a solo in the 1st Tenor Sax, which takes a top harmony when the 2nd Tenor takes over the melody. A third harmony is added in the Bari Sax a few measures later. The Alto section takes over the melody at the beat drop. The trombones get a soli on the bridge followed by the big chorus in which everyone plays and the 1st Alto takes a descant solo. I have not yet completed the parts for the rhythm sections on any of the parts I have worked on, but for the remaining parts, I intend to attempt a cannon leading into an adlib section spread out between the trumpet parts.
This creative process is a lot of fun, and I'm excited for the end result! I hope to do more projects like this in the future!
I will upload a link once it is published, so stay tuned!