[Dixielandjazz] Stock arrangements and recordings

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Some musicians I have met believe that "stock arranging"
means "watered down" or "not too good". Not true.

Some are "more playable" than others but some were killers.   Four Brothers pops to mind.  I remember the AF band rehearsing that tune a lot to get it up to speed.  On the other hand some were real pap.

One thing that makes the older ones not real useful is that the piano parts didn't have chord symbols.  Piano players don't like to wade through all those notes like they once did.  I'm not sure when they started putting them in but at some point they started doing it.  About a third of my stock collection doesn't have chord symbols.  They do have them in the guitar parts though.

For the most part I liked the way they were arranged and I also liked their versatility.  As I said before I used them with as small a group as five pieces with the ability to grow to be a big band.

One problem is that all the arrangements didn't have bari sax.  Some could be used with a tenor band.

A few years back I went to a Shriner convention here in St. Louis and there was a Tenor band that was from Kansas City I believe performing.  The tenor band had an interesting sound and was pretty popular for awhile.  You never hear tenor bands anymore.  The leader of that band, I was told, did his own arrangements.  Unfortunately I don't remember who it was.

I'm not sure if you could recreate the original sound of the tenor band anymore.  The instrument has evolved in sound and style so much in the last 80 years that it might be difficult.
Larry
St. Louis
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: AL LEVY 
  To: Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis 
  Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List 
  Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 5:39 PM
  Subject: Stock arrangements and recordings


  Larry Walton wrote:
  Just a question.  I don't know exactly what you
  are talking about.  I have a huge pile of "Stocks".
  ====================================
  From 1949 thru 1955 I was studying with Sy Oliver and Dick
  Jacobs. Early in 1949 I was hired by the THREE arrangers
  (They formed a company called Red Circle Music) who
  had offices in the penthouse at 1619 Broadway better known
  as the Brill Building. The 3rd arranger was Johnny Warrington.
  =====================================
  At some point Johnny gave me a lesson in stock arranging.
  Stocks were voiced so that they could be played with
  just about any combination of instruments as well as the
  full ensemble. - That's it!
  ======================================
  Some "stock arrangers" were absolutely great at what they
  did. Johnny's desk was always covered with work to do.
  Jeff Hest did a fine job with some of the record copies such
  as Sing Sing Sing.

  It should be obvious that a "record copy" cannot be the same
  as the original. Most "original" charts are scored for the
  sidemen's abilities and voiced so that all had to be present.

  The published stocks of Tommy Dorsey/Sy Oliver charts
  are aproximation of the originals. They do NOT sound like
  the recordings to my ears. Same goes for the Glenn Miller,
  Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman charts. In many cases they
  are very similar but not they same.

  Some musicians I have met believe that "stock arranging"
  means "watered down" or "not too good". Not true.
  It was up to the writer to decide whether to simplify the
  notation (rhythms, keys etc) or be true to the original. 
  So, you have to judge each chart on it's own merits.
  For sure, the audience will never know the difference,
  unless YOU happen to be there.
  ===================
  This came to me a few months ago:
  I came across your website.  I'm Johnny Warrington's daughter,
  Glad to see that his work is still in play.  People tell me still how
  much they enjoy his arrangements.  Not sure when you posted
  that his books would be available, so please let me know.
  Thanks,  Jean Warrington
  =======================
  We spoke on the phone for almost an hour. John retired in the
  late fifties - (nothing to write for Little Richard :} ) and settled in
  Ocean City N.J. There he resumed writing for a local big band.
  John was a graduate of Duke Univ. and shared music chores
  with Les Brown for the Duke Blue Devils.

  Cheers,
  Al
  Pianist, Composer, Arranger, Conductor, Teacher and Music Prep.
  Please visit me at
  http://alevy.com