The Roles of Each Part in a Jazz Ensemble and

Repertoire for the Jazz Ensemble

Greetings from the Alabama Jazz Collective! Andy will cover the roles of each part in a jazz ensemble, and Chris will cover what music to play!

Dr. Andy Nevala, Director of Jazz Studies, Jacksonville State University, Director, JSU Jazz Ensemble I, 2023 Downbeat Magazine winner for “Outstanding Performance, Undergraduate Jazz Ensemble”.

I’m often asked, “What can I do to get my Jazz Band going?”. First and foremost, you need to understand how a Jazz Ensemble works. Like a Symphony Orchestra, each player or part has a specific role and purpose toward the greater good of the Jazz Ensemble “sound” and performance. Knowing who to put in the right place, at the right time, is the key to success.

The rhythm section is the cornerstone of the band. There has never been a great band with a bad drummer, and vice versa: many mediocre bands can sound great with a really good drummer. The drummer’s role is to set the style, whether it’s a medium swing, funk, bossa, straight eights contemporary, while at the same time

“kicking” the band: setting up the figures the band is about to play so the band knows exactly where to come in. Often reading is an issue; fortunately, many of the charts come with recordings, so if that person can’t read music, they can try to have it memorized from the recording. The bass player provides the foundation of the harmony, that “Overtone Series” deep musical theory stuff that makes the chords sound full and the band sound in tune. The bass also needs to match the bass drum in whatever style you are playing, as the kick drum serves the “attack” for the acoustic bass note to cut through the band. Charts for bass players have chord symbols and written-out bass lines. Your piano player and guitar player are there to support the band and soloists by comping. One of these two needs to be able to read music, as some of the charts that are geared towards beginning bands have detailed piano/guitar parts written out along with chord symbols. Be careful about letting these two both play all the time - they will clutter and muddy the sound if two harmonic comping instruments are playing at the same time. Think about these things when you are holding rhythm section auditions! I have multiple drummers and like large rhythm sections, but not everyone plays on every tune, and they all need to know their roles so it doesn’t sound like a hot mess.

The lead trumpet player has a critical role in how your band will sound. The person on that part, given the nature of the sound of the trumpet in a high register, will be heard, and the lead trumpet player determines style, note lengths, articulations, volume, tempo, dynamics, and feel. The other musicians in the ensemble all listen to the lead trumpet part, and that is why the lead trumpet should be in the back row, in the middle of the band. Your lead trombone player should be directly in front of the lead trumpet, as well as the lead alto player where they can hear the lead trumpet and match the style and articulations. Of course, this is all predetermined by your score preparation with the recordings, and you tell the lead trumpet how to play what you want played before the first rehearsal. Once you dive into the score preparation it’s easy to hear how the great bands all played the same articulations, etc…, and that’s the reason they are the great bands. The 2nd trumpet part is sometimes a split lead part: this player can play a little bit of lead to help the lead player out, and the parts that are written for this player are in the higher range as well. The soloist in the trumpets needs to be on the 3rd or 4th part: soloing is a different skill set, and often this person is practicing soloing rather than working on range studies.

Trombones and Saxes that aren’t playing lead are all equally important. The bari and bass bone hold down the low end of the band and should be on the opposite side of the band from the rhythm section. The 2nd Alto, 2nd Tenor, 2nd Bone, and 3rd Bone are all playing harmony notes in the chords or playing a part that matches what the

2nd and 3rd trumpet are playing, so ideally those players would sit in a straight line like the lead players, so they can hear the part and match the person behind them.

The soloists are usually the 1st tenor, 2nd or 3rd bone, and 4th trumpet. These folks need to be closest to the rhythm section because when it’s solo time, the rhythm section needs to be able to hear them as if they are playing in a combo setting, so everyone can react to each other and play together. If there is a feature for an instrument, that person should come out in front of the rhythm section side of the band for the same reason.

Now that you know the roles of each player, put the right players in the spots that will serve the overall function of the band in the best way. If you can hold auditions, have different options for them. Provide a lead trumpet part or a 4th trumpet part for them to choose from. Same with trombones. The lower parts are a great way for newcomers to jazz to contribute to the ensemble and are just as important as any other part. Put the right person in the right spot for the right reason. I’ve also included a diagram of my jazz ensemble concert setup. Now you are ready to find some music to play!! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out at anevala@jsu.edu.

Christopher Kozak, Director of Jazz Studies and Instructor of Double and Electric Jazz Bass, University of Alabama

A question that comes up often from High School and Middle School Band directors is, “Where do you recommend finding some easy beginner charts for our Jazz Ensemble or Jazz Band?” It isn’t enough to point someone to a website and just randomly pick charts from a grade 1 level. Doing that can and many times does, lead to picking charts that lack some of the fundamental groundwork that can help build better musicians in your sections leading to a bettersounding band. It can also be difficult to ascertain your band’s grade level, especially before a semester or when you haven’t auditioned your sections yet for placement. This is a great opportunity to have some easy charts on hand to help determine their abilities.

An important place to start is determining how advanced your students are. Can the lead trumpet players play a G above the staff? Can your Piano player read chord charts and improvise an accompaniment? How many of the students are strong improvisers? Does your rhythm section have solid time and can play different styles? How well do your sections play in tune? Do you have a full band or is there a unique blend of instruments? How many of your students are familiar with Jazz? The list goes on but thankfully most grade 1 and 2 charts will have indicators as to how complex the arrangements are as in what ranges are expected, the difficulty of the rhythms, and stylistic concerns i.e., can your 8th grade Jazz Band play an uptempo Funk chart in 7/8? (BTW, if you can do that, I’d love to hear your band!) A lot of the charts will have at least 3 woodwinds, and 5 or 6 brass that can be “shared” or doubled with similarly tuned instruments. It’s ok to mix it up a bit to fill out the sound if they work within the arrangement. You may consider using “convertible” charts for your smaller groups or combos to get them familiar with playing in harmony or just reading charts. While they aren’t always ideal, having the options of Eb, Bb, and Concert/Bass clef parts available to everyone is a surefire way to include as many of your talented students as possible. Once you have those questions answered, you’ll at least have a good idea of what charts to pick based on the criteria you are looking for.

Another thing to consider is genre. There are plenty of easy-grade charts that take a popular tune such as the Rolling Stone’s “Satisfaction” or Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Those can be fun places to start however, I might recommend selecting one of the more well-known arrangements that have been adjusted for a particular grade level. A few suggestions would be Roy Phillipe’s arrangement of Count Basie and Neil Hefti’s “Little Darlin’,” Mike Sweeney’s arrangement of “Wood Chopper’s Ball,” or Rick Stitzel’s “Freddie Freeloader.” Those are all contrasting styles within the genre, somewhat varied tempi, and accessible for a starting band. Most importantly they are from the traditional jazz repertoire that they will most likely Jazz Ensemble Setup with Chair Placement