Beautiful Day by U2/Bono; arr. by Falker
SATB w/ rhythm section; View Score
John Stafford Recommendation: Such a cool arrangement! Great example of a rock tune arranged in a jazz harmonic setting. Very accessible to high school choirs and up!
Dance Monkey by Toni Watson; arr. by Bryan Sharpe
3-Part Mixed A Cappella; View Score
Rob Dietz Recommendation: A really good intro arrangement to Contemporary A Cappella. Notated vocal percussion will help newbies!
Rehearsing the Vocal Jazz Ensemble by Daniel Gregerman
Book; View Info
John Stafford Recommendation: One of the newest resources for vocal jazz ensemble. Excellent resource with content from 12 prominent vocal jazz educators in the country.
Sweet Bird by Mike Steinel; arr. by Kerry Marsh
SSATB w/ rhythm section; View Score
John Stafford Recommendation: This is a good teaching chart about how to learn bebop improvisation. The scat section provides guide tone pitches to help students learn where to “land” within the chord change of their scatting. This is the first vocal jazz chart I’ve seen provide that and I think it would be very helpful!
The Times They Are A-Changin’ by Bob Dylan; arr. by Adam Podd
SATB/SSAA; View Score
Nathan Dame Recommendation: Stunning arrangement!
Vocal Jazz Technique: The mixing table model by Katrien Van Opstal; contributions by Vanessa Matthys & Dr. Justin Binek
Book; View Info
John Stafford Recommendation: The newest publication about vocal jazz pedagogy. This would be a great resource for students that would like to learn how to sing jazz and popular styles in a healthy manner.
Waving Through a Window from Dear Evan Hansen by Justin Paul & Benj Pasek; arr. by Roger Emerson
SATB; View Score
Clinton Hardy Recommendation: There are several categories this piece could fall into for middle school-junior high. Definitely for those that have it, this piece has show choir written all over it. My varsity show choir did this a few years ago, and the kids loved it. This is on the more challenging side, however, you can cut out parts that don’t suite your choir. For example, if you’re missing tenors, you could leave that part out or have the basses double the melody. It also has a great message that comes through, so I highly recommend this piece for show choir or a pop show concert.
