Griff's Groove

I was with two friends at Honest Al's used record store in the U district about 1973. One friend was recommending this album to the other. The second friend declined, so I snatched it up. It's still one of my favorite records, and the Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band is my all-time favorite band.

"Griff's Groove" was my favorite cut on the album. Johnny Griffin's playing is very expubident and the head is a real interesting take on the blues. I like the parallel voicings in the saxes. But I especially like the shout section, where Francy Boland brings back the background riffs in the saxes and trombones and combines them with the trumpets to make 3 part counterpoint. I've used this technique in one or two of my own arrangements. It takes some heavy cyphering to pull it off, but it can be very effective.

A few years ago I decided to do a record copy on the tune. The chart seemed to work quite well. All the parts are here, but I didn't include the score. I'd be real interested in getting more Francy Boland charts if anyone has them available - email me.

Download

More Mercy

Here is the sheet music to Cannonball Adderley's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy". It looks a bit beat up, so I probably got it at a thrift store.

Download

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

It was about 1969 when my high school stage band played our first contest, in Vancouver, WA. We did the Quincy Jones arrangement of "One Mint Julep" that had been recorded by Ray Charles. We had no idea where the chart had come from, of course.

Oddly enough, several bands were playing an arrangement of a stupid song I had been hearing on the radio. I had never heard of the Cannonball Adderley recording or the Phil Wilson arrangement done by Buddy Rich, the Nancy Wilson vocal (lyrics by Gail Fisher - Mannix's secretary), or any of the other many versions of Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" that were being released at the time. I was only aware of the Buckinghams' record. I wasn't exactly impressed with the song. So why was this chart so popular with high school bands that year?

Well, it turned out that the Phil Wilson score had been published in a magazine. Any band director with a pencil and some manuscript paper could copy parts out and have a free chart for their band - and a professional chart at that! Arrangements by the pros weren't nearly as easy to come by at that time.

Eventually I managed to get a copy for myself, and I'm happy to share it with you here.

Download

Fat Girl

This one is from my House Advantage (Fake) Book.

I probably got the 78 of Fats Navarro's "Fat Girl" at an Oregon City record show, back in the 80's. It's hard to be sure, but I got a lot of great 78's there and I think this was one of them. I have it now on LP and cd, of course, but this was the first time I had heard the song. Naturally I'm going to love anything by Fats and Leo Parker. The flip side, by the way, is Serge Chaloff's "A Bar a Second".

We played "Fat Girl" in a combo at North Seattle Community College with Fred Radke. It was a big hit with the band. Nick Davis was playing bass and he was the one who got to yell, "Fat Girl! Fat Girl!".

Download

Lemon Drop

I was at my grandparents' house in about 1970 when I first discovered the Woody Herman version of George Wallington's Lemon Drop. A screaming big band arrangement by Shorty Rogers, it immediately became my all-time favorite record - and it still is. I have it on 12" LP, 10" LP, 45, 78 bw/ Early Autumn and 78 bw/ I Ain't Gettin' Any Younger.

I have a few other versions also - Gene Krupa, Phil Woods and a couple of other Woody Herman recordings (one featuring Charlie Parker). Too much, I know...

The Woody Herman version is the best, of course. Shorty Rogers wrote a wild, brassy arrangement for the band that features a novelty bop vocal by Woody, Terry Gibbs and Chubby Jackson. There are also solos by Woody, Terry, Red Rodney, Earl Swope and my favorite of course, Serge Chaloff. And it's all packed into a frantic 3 minutes! This record rivals the best of Dizzy Gillespie.

I knew the sheet music was out there, but the only place I've found it is ebay.

I'd love to get a copy of Shorty Rogers' arrangement, if anyone has it available - email me.

Download