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SKU: A0.1111745
By Thad Jones. By Alec Wilder and Thad Jones. Arranged by Ken Litton. Advent,Christmas,Holiday,Jazz,Standards. Octavo. 13 pages. Artist of Note, Inc. #713987. Published by Artist of Note, Inc. (A0.1111745).Duration 3:30 A Child Is Born is a truly beautiful picture—sacred or secular—of the Advent story painted from the enduring viewpoint of his mother, Mary. Written in 1969 by jazz trumpeter Thad Jones. The lyrics were added independently by Alec Wilder after he heard the Thad Jones - Mel Lewis Orchestra perform it. The song has been described by Bob Yurochko (with contributor Wynton Marsalis) in A Short History of Jazz as a “beautiful ballad of mainstream jazz." This arrangement begins with a quiet intro in which both the piano and the Bb Instrument touch very lightly on Silent Night. The easily memorized single stanza is sung first by the altos, who are then joined by and succeeded by the sopranos and then deftly handed off to altos, tenors and basses who are subsequently involved in each four-part cadence point well as other unison and two-part sections. The halved repeat of the stanza can be a very nice piano feature or, optionally a Bb instrument—Flugelhorn (even a muted Trumpet) a Bb Clarinet or a Bb tenor saxophone can supply the solo with the voices singing the very light background. The key change is kept simple, with a descending scale into the new key. The final section makes additional mention of STILLE NACHT as well as echoing the intro at the jazz ending. Still, the instrumental part remains optional and the chord symbols make it easy to include string bass or even gentle jazz guitar (drums on this should, of course be mainly light brushes). The vocal parts are limited to practical ranges and, while there is divisi in the soprano part, each voice is always easily sung). The accessible accompaniment has comparatively little movement in the left hand beyond the middle of a typical measure, especially when there are technical requirements in the right hand. #choral #jazz choral #church choral #liturgical choral.
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