Jazz Ensemble Grade: 0.5

Here’s a great opportunity to discuss and teach balance, expression, phrasing, and dynamics to your very beginning jazz students. You can hear it for yourself in this superb chart by master arranger Victor López. No improvised solos, but a haunting written solo by trumpet or optional flute starts things off and it gets even more lyrical with simple and easy-to-play moving lines. Fast preparation, minimal technical demands, and plenty of optional parts make this the ideal ballad chart for any performance setting. This melody will stick with you for weeks – the title says it all.

Warner Bros. Jazz presents the Jazz Beginnings Series.This is a new series designed for very basic jazz ensemble playing using limited ranges, rhythms and flexible instrumentation and it parallels beginning method books. Victor López has created a superb chart with Caribbean Fever that’s easy to learn and play while teaching the basic Latin style. Rhythm section parts are clearly written along with a written solo for trumet. Jazz wil spark the imagination and interest of the young players and this chart will get them started on the right track. (2:28)

This one has a funky rock groove with a hip chord progression yet is very easy to play. The chart has plenty of unison harmony, no solos, easy ranges, and is very effective for the young band. (2:45)