Donald Brown

• Nine new titles at jazzleadsheets.com

  Another week means one thing at jazzleadsheets.com: new music. This week, we're proud to introduce three important new composers: pianist Buddy Montgomery, alto saxophonist Jerry Dodgion and trumpeter Ryan Kisor. It's a massive update with nine new titles in all by a wide range of composers from Hank Mobley to Cecilia Coleman. Make sure to check out this week's videos -- this update has exclusives from jazzleadsheets.com that feature the composers themselves with rising young artists.

  Here are this week's new titles:

  HANK MOBLEY: Space Flight
  Classic early Mobley: burning fast rhythm changes. Full quintet arrangement available.

  SONNY CLARK: Dial S For Sonny
  12 bars of hard bop with a stop time head.

  BUDDY MONTOMGERY: Here Again
  A hard bop swinger.

  RYAN KISOR: Horror Show
  A challenging workout for any instrument.

  HAROLD LAND: Reflections
  Simple melody, challenging form. First, second and bass parts available.

  HAROLD LAND: As You Like It
  A twist on rhythm changes. First and second parts available.

  CECILIA COLEMAN: So You Say
  A modern take on "You Stepped Out Of A Dream." Lead sheets and piano-bass duo available.

  DONALD BROWN: Havana Days
  Modal, modern uptempo Latin. Solo piano arrangement available.

  JERRY DODGION: Holunderkuchen
  A minor blues that switches between 3/4 and 4/4.

  Looking for something more visual? Browse the album covers in the gallery on the Albums page! To get there, click "FEATURES" in the top navigation bar, then "Albums" in the drop-down menu.

• Swing in the new year with new charts galore

  It’s been a great year here at jazzleadsheets.com: we celebrated Blue Note’s 75th Anniversary, launched our Minus You audio features, and introduced handfuls of new composers and more great music. We’re still working with our developer on the improved version of jazzleadsheets.com which will feature a more visually-exciting interface and a better checkout experience. To keep you swinging into 2015, we’re topping you off with one last group of lead sheets for the year with some picks we know you’ll love.

  GIGI GRYCE: Boxer’s Blues
  A different type of altered blues! This Gigi Gryce piece moves back and forth from a double time groove to a laid-back swing. Gigi’s intriguing quintet arrangement is captured in each of our lead sheet editions; his original recording featured trumpet and alto sax alternating lines, but both are notated in all editions so you can choose how you want to approach it.

  TINA BROOKS: Miss Hazel
  A bright, brassy Tina Brooks composition full of fun II-V changes. This uptempo swing is also available as a quintet arrangement; we have a concert condensed score available (featuring the melody, counter-melody and rhythm section hits), lead sheets for all instruments and second parts.

  LUCKY THOMPSON: Once There Was
  A perfect example of Lucky Thompson’s masterful ballad writing and interpretation. To show both sides of Lucky’s talent, composing and performing, all editions include a transcription of everything he plays on the form: the head in, a short solo over the bridge, and the last A section out.

  WALTER DAVIS, JR.: Scorpio Rising
  “Walter Davis, Jr., loved to play this piece to get his adrenaline going,” remembers Don Sickler. This wild medium-up swing with a strong rhythmic pulse will get you going, too!

  KENNY DREW, JR.: Nelson Avenue Morning
  A light, breezy, constantly evolving medium swing melody from a virtuoso pianist-composer. This unusual ABABC form of this piece is a refreshing twist on typical song forms — the way Kenny only uses four measures of the B section when it returns and the unexpected new themes at the end keep everyone on their toes.

  ROY HARGROVE: The Mountaings
  Keep things spicy with this Cuban son-jazz hybrid. The 2/3 clave groove gives The Mountaings an authentic Cuban vibe, but Roy Hargrove’s melody is modern jazz-oriented. This composition comes from Roy’s Grammy-winning album HABANA and is sure to be a winner for you, too.

  GEOFFREY KEEZER: Pierce On Earth
  A personal, sensitive ballad written for saxophonist Bill Pierce. Geoff weaves together contemporary jazz idioms with soulful licks in this tender composition. Geoff’s own solo piano arrangement is also available.

  DONALD BROWN: The Moment You’ve All Been Waiting For
  This stately ballad features an unusual abbreviated form with just four measures for the A sections and three measures for the B. The dramatic sustained chords under the main theme define the character of this Donald Brown composition.

  Start your 2015 the right way with jazzleadsheets.com!

• Spring is in full swing at jazzleadsheets.com

  Several years ago, Second Floor Music started putting out sextet arrangements that were recorded by the exciting group “One For All.” Two of the prominent writers in that group are Eric Alexander and Jim Rotondi who started recording together in 1996, a year before “One For All” officially recorded its first album. Eric and Jim have enjoyed writing compositions together over the years, and Biru Kirusai is one of at least seven of these collaborations.

  Quiet Fire is the second Donald Brown composition that we’re making available on jazzleadsheets.com. If you’re not familiar with this marvelous composer, this is a good place to start. Neither the melody or the solo chord progression is difficult. The first eight-measure phrase of the melody sets you up for adding eight measures of “colors” before resuming with twelve more measures of melody leading into a different “colors” section. It’s an added treat to hear the “colors” of Donald’s piano and the vibes of Steve Nelson on this recording.

  Steve Nelson is also another one of our marvelous composers, and Song For Justine is a constantly evolving melodic tour de force as it develops over its eighty-measure form.

  For those of you who only know the great bluesy and funky sides of Gene Ammons, we want to Sock you with one of his more swinging boppish heads.

  Lonnie Hillyer was one of our great trumpet players, and a good composer who unfortunately didn’t get to record his own compositions. Lonnie got to play Soft Shoulder on some gigs as a member of Charlie Rouse’s quintet, but unfortunately that group never got to record. I think everyone is going to enjoy playing it. I certainly know I have.

  Jazz lives if we play it!

• jazzleadsheets in early October

  It’s a big update from us this week — eight new charts with exciting options for singers and instrumentalists alike! With so much to choose from, there’s no way you won’t be able to find something that catches your interest.

  We have three new compositions by former Jazz Messengers, starring with composer/pianist Donald Brown’s stunning ballad Dorothy, dedicated to his wife. Not only is it a romantic, complex ballad in and of itself, but we also offer transcriptions of Donald’s comping behind the melody and his solo for pianists who want to learn more about his signature style. Studying Donald’s artistic harmonic voicings in his comping and the way he gives meaning and purpose to each note in his solo is a great exercise for pianists to improve their own skills.

  We’re introducing another new composer, saxophonist Bill Pierce, with his Chuck’s Groove. Like many of Bill’s compositions, this piece features a memorable, tuneful melody and sets it over an unusual chord progression. It’s a great choice for musicians of any instrument or skill level!

  We were so excited about Hank Mobley’s The Turnaround (quintet parts) that we had to make it available for both musicians and singers. It’s a funky, bluesy and fun piece that is easy to master for beginners but really soars when played by masters like Hank and Freddie Hubbard (who are featured on the instrumental recording). Chris Caswell’s playful lyric version, I Found The Turnaround, is expertly recorded by Karrin Allyson. Take a listen and try it out yourself with our vocal lead sheet; the small range of the melody makes it perfect for most voice types.

  Take a trip to South America with Jon Burr’s Sea Breeze. This laid-back, soothing bossa nova features a lyric by the composer himself that reflects the simple joy of relaxing by the sea. We offer this lead sheet in two keys — one for altos and one for sopranos. Full track and accompaniment-only audio available.

  Rachel Gould’s No More Fire (Over You) is another bossa nova with a bit more of an edge. The lyric describes getting over a lover and finally being able to move on. In addition to the vocal lead sheet, we also offer a transcription of Rachel’s recording so singers can learn from her expert phrasing.

  Singers looking to add more waltzes to their repertoire should look no further than Like A Butterfly, Judy Niemack’s lyric version to Ronnie Mathews’s Jean-Marie. This delicate, breezy waltz is a good choice for sopranos since it features the upper register of a vocalist’s range. Full track and accompaniment-only audio available.

  Rounding out our vocal selections is Swinging My Life Away, a vocal version of Ray Bryant’s Tonk with a lyric by Tina May. It’s a fun, upbeat song that celebrates jazz, swing, and being yourself — a message we couldn’t agree with more! Full track and accompaniment-only audio available.

  A tip: if you’re printing from Adobe Acrobat, make sure you specify “none” for print scaling in the dialog. We’ve already made sure the margins are correct. If you let Acrobat print automatically, it might reduce the music a bit.

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