TromboneChat

I'm talking about featuring a solo trombone, not the trombone section. It seems like some of the websites promoting big band charts don't differentiate . . .

Anyway, what are your favorites? I have two that I really, really dig:

All The Way, arranged by Patrick Williams. This is the version that Bill Watrous recorded on Williams' Sinatraland album. It is challenging, for sure, but oh so much fun to blow through!

Londonderry Air, arranged by Sammy Nestico. This is a fairly easy chart to play and Nestico actually published more than one version of Londonderry Air - so looking for it, be careful about which version you're actually tracking down. The version that starts and ends with solo trombone is what I'm talking about, and it is absolutely gorgeous, a masterpiece of orchestration.

Steve Gray's done a wonderful arrangement of There's No Greater Love. It's different in that it leaves loads of room for the trombone to stretch out over the changes.

My three favorite commercially available features that I play very often are, in no particular order:

"Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" (Frank Mantooth arrangement), ballad followed by a fast swing solo section.


"A Time For Love" -- Ballad. Sammy Nestico


And one I performed last Thursday night, "Somewhere Along The Way" (John LaBarbara arrangement)


I also have access to some others that are not commercially available but were written just for me. I'd be happy to hook you up with them. They include "Darn That Dream," "Defying Gravity," and "Polkadots And Moonbeams." Sorry, I don't have recordings of them but can share the parts with you.

There are a couple of arrangements of Mr.Rogers themes written for trombone feature...

Emily as played by Andy Martin:

Coup de Chapeau, by Claude Bolling and played by Charles Verstraete (https://www.discogs.com/artist/481271-C ... Verstraete).

The Ellington features are awesome.
Sonnet To Hank Cinq (starting at min 4)


Blue Cellophane


There are others like Amad or Moon Over Cuba.

This is one of my personal favorites by Jim McNeely:


To me there's no better use of the Plunger/Pixie Combo.


And then there is this:


Absolutely dig Phil Wilson's more "experimental" approach on this recording.


And then there's the sweet style with players like Tommy Dorsey, Urbie Green, Dick Nash or Jiggs Whigham which has tremendous features as well, some already been listed above.

I thought this thread was about finding commercially available arrangements for the OP to play? I guess I could be misunderstanding.

tbdana wrote: Mon Jul 28, 2025 11:48 am I thought this thread was about finding commercially available arrangements for the OP to play? I guess I could be misunderstanding.

Except for Lonesome Old Town, mine are all available to get. Not aware of Lonesome Old Town being available but it's such a great thing to listen to.

tbdana wrote: Mon Jul 28, 2025 11:48 am I thought this thread was about finding commercially available arrangements for the OP to play? I guess I could be misunderstanding.

You are correct! (about the first sentence above, not the second)

I could have phrased my request a bit better . . .

Ooh, another one. Mark Nightingale's Don't Mention The Blues:



Available from Mark directly, I believe.

This one.is pretty sweet! Vic Dickenson was cooking that night!

I am a fan of most anything by Woody Herman and his various herds, but the trombone solos were often sort of caricatures of trombone playing, more fun energy than serious. Then there is that very nice work by Jim Pugh, The Meaning of the Blues on the Giant Steps album. A good recording and easy to enjoy.

I'm went through the database of my big band library to find the published trombone features.

Frank Mantooth's "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" is a great chart, fun to play. It can also feature other instruments on the solo part, but I think it sounds best on trombone.

Mantooth wrote an arrangement of Cherokee that similarly can feature a soloist on different instruments. The Asheville Jazz Orchestra sometimes performs this chart and opens it up for more than one soloist, but it works very nicely as a feature.

Sammy Nestico's "Tall Cotton" is a fun one for plunger trombone feature. It does have a trumpet solo stuck in there too, but it's still a nice trombone feature.



Thad Jones's arrangement of "Makin' Whoopee," also written for Al Grey (like "Tall Cotton") is also a good one for a plunger feature.



Nestico also wrote a plunger feature called "The Plunger" that's on the Basie album Have a Nice Day. I couldn't find a YouTube video of the Basie band playing it.

Rob Curnow wrote a very nice trombone feature of Pat Metheny's "Dream of the Return."



Bill Holman wrote a nice feature for Carl Fontana on "Polkadots and Moonbeams."



Frank Mantooth wrote another pretty easy to play trombone featured called "Oneida." I couldn't find a professional band performing it on YouTube.

Another plunger feature is Tom Kubis's "I Just Flew In From Chicago...and Boy Are My Arms Tired." I didn't find a YouTube video of this one.

I've also written some trombone features with big band. I did an arrangement of "In a Sentimental Mood" and "Caravan" to feature trombone. I also wrote a feature ballad called "Leaving" that can be purchased.

MStarke wrote: Mon Jul 28, 2025 4:32 am Emily as played by Andy Martin:

I can't find any info on this just now, but I swear I heard Carl Fontana play this same chart before Carl Sanders's band recorded it. Maybe I'm thinking of a different arrangement. Regardless, that's a great chart and Andy Martin is a monster.

Dave

Wilktone wrote: Wed Aug 06, 2025 9:32 am Thad Jones's arrangement of "Makin' Whoopee," also written for Al Grey (like "Tall Cotton") is also a good one for a plunger feature.
https://youtu.be/oDl33QOf6qs?si=EHu-9clCkFHAMqfv

Digressing slightly, but it's worth hearing the live version from Sinatra at the Sands as well as the album version linked above. Looser, in a good way.

Mark Nightingale ( UK ) with the RIAS Big Band Solo " Whisper Not " from his Album Destiny ( 1996 ).

3:40 Wow.......



Al

tbdana wrote: Sun Jul 27, 2025 1:22 pm My three favorite commercially available features that I play very often are, in no particular order:

"Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" (Frank Mantooth arrangement), ballad followed by a fast swing solo section.


"A Time For Love" -- Ballad. Sammy Nestico


And one I performed last Thursday night, "Somewhere Along The Way" (John LaBarbara arrangement)


I also have access to some others that are not commercially available but were written just for me. I'd be happy to hook you up with them. They include "Darn That Dream," "Defying Gravity," and "Polkadots And Moonbeams." Sorry, I don't have recordings of them but can share the parts with you.

It looks like the Frank Mantooth arrangement is out of print unfortunately, but it's a nice one! do you know of any other ballad style features that switch to double or quadruple time for the solo section?

Connecting The Bones.

officermayo wrote: Wed Nov 05, 2025 6:57 am Connecting The Bones.

Fun chart! I never got to play that when I worked for Harry James. If I had known about it I would have asked, though.