They Came Here to Dance (Swing Band Arrangement)
Jazz Ensemble - Digital Sheet Music

Jazz Ensemble Jazz Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.970736

Composed by Mike Strand. Graduation,Jazz,Wedding. Score and parts. 22 pages. Michael M. Strand #4890111. Published by Michael M. Strand (A0.970736).

By Mike Strand, ASCAP

This is the full score, plus scores for three groups of parts, for a full arrangement of a swing tune for piano, bass, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and two singers.

After the cover, there are 21 pages of music: Ten pages for the full score; four pages for the group of blowing instruments (alto saxophone, B flat trumpet, and trombone); four pages for the piano and bass; and three pages for the two singers.  

Grouping the parts in this manner is natural and advantageous for this particular swing composition. These part groupings will help players in a group coordinate with each other from their group score. This is an excellent compromise between everyone working from the full score, and each player having a score with just the player’s individual part.

The audio sample plays the full score.

This product solves a problem that any composer of new jazz music faces: Unlike the popular standards, there aren’t any well-known and often-heard arrangements for a band to emulate. As the composer with only a lead sheet, I would have to convince your band to develop an arrangement from scratch, starting from nothing but the lead sheet!  With so many attractive standard swing tunes to perform, a busy band may hesitate to put extra effort into an unknown tune.

Problem solved!

With this full arrangement of They Came Here to Dance, a band can better see and hear the tune’s full potential. It will be easier for a band to make any modifications to suit its particular mix of musicians and to better fit its style.

With this arrangement, with written score, part group scores and audio sample, it will be as easy as working from the recording and score of a popular standard.

All that’s missing from this arrangement is the percussion, because of the individuality of drummers. The band only needs a skilled jazz drummer to join in easily with this arrangement.

 Here are the lyrics to They Came Here to Dance:

1.

You may come here to eat and to drink.

Lots of chins wag, and wine glasses clink.

Well, that’s all good, but here’s what I think:

They came here to dance!

2.

We cats up front have to check our sound mix.

Then they walk in, togged to the bricks.

They have the moves to show off our licks.

They came here to dance!

Bridge – Instrumental section, followed by:

Our band’s in the groove – here’s one reason why:

The doghouse amps are turned up high.

They get in there, and tear up the floor!

And they don’t care if their feet get sore.

3.

Bustin’ our conks, we cats are hot,

She is a wren who rocks him a lot!

And they don’t care if we light up or not.

They came here to dance!

4. Bridge again, then:

Bustin’ our conks, we cats are hot,

She is a wren who rocks him a lot!

And they don’t care if we light up or not.

They have the learning to, they have a yearning to,

They came here to dance!

Note

Some words in these lyrics are taken from "Cab Calloway Slang":

Light up – smoke a stick (marijuana cigarette)

Doghouse - bass

Get in there - go to work, get busy, make it hot, give it all you got

Bustin’ our conks – breaking our necks (applying ourselves diligently)

Wren – a chick, a queen (beautiful girl)

Cat – musician in swing band

Togged to the bricks – dressed to kill, from head to toe

Licks – hot musical phrases

In the groove – perfect, down the alley

 .