Recorded by Duke Ellington
Arranged by Billy Strayhorn, Prepared by Dylan Canterbury, Rob DuBoff, and Jeffrey Sultanof
In 1935 Billy Strayhorn was asked by members of the Westinghouse High School graduating class to assist in producing a short show of skits and songs to be featuring during an annual event called “Stunt Day.” Strayhorn, a graduate of the school, had played piano for this review in the past. Rather than merely providing accompaniment, he decided to write a show titled Fantastic Rhythm featuring an orchestra of 12 musicians and a group of dancers. One of the songs written for this show was My Little Brown Book. In 1940, after having joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Strayhorn wrote an arrangement of this tune to feature a vocalist. However, it would go unrecorded until 1942 when the band went into the studio and produced a record featuring vocalist Herb Jeffries. In 1952 Strayhorn would once again revisit this early classic of his and re-arrange it and set it in the new key of C major (the original key was Bb) to suit vocalist Jimmy Grissom. This particular arrangement was re-recorded by Ellington for the 1967 Strayhorn tribute album ...and his mother called him Bill as an instrumental. The formerly vocal melody was divided up between piano (Ellington), alto saxophone (Johnny Hodges), and trombone (Lawrence Brown). This publication has been based on the 1952 set of parts that were re-used for the 1967 studio version.
Contents
Full Score
2 Alto Saxophones
2 Tenor Saxophones (Tenor Sax 1 Doubles on Clarinet)
Baritone Saxophone
4 Trumpets
3 Trombones
Piano
Bass
Drums
Ranges
Trumpet 1: F5
Trombone 1: C5
