It Can Be Arranged (2023)
Schroder's humble Big Band recorded at the Kelvin Club

Like plenty of other bands, Schroder's humble Big Band needed to get together post Covid lockdowns, and what better way than to make a recording. So we gathered together at the Kelvin Club without an audience on Sunday 26th June 2022, rehearsing and recording, and followed that up on the following Tuesday with a concert with full house, which was also recorded.

The results are presented here.

Covid hadn't finished with us; a couple of phone calls came in from musicians struck down with it just prior to our recording dates, so we had to call in a few friends to cover. Then Citipower decided to turn off the electricity on the first recording day which meant that we couldn't even get inside the front door of the Kelvin Club for an hour or two, so we milled around in the lane drinking coffee and catching up with each other until the power was restored. lt all went rather well after that, and it turned out to be a good way to start the day, although never in our plans.

// ABOUT THE MUSIC...

The music on these CDs covers a broad range from originals to pop tunes, and versions of jazz classics, perhaps arranged in an unusual way or others that are little more than transcriptions, mildly tweaked and adapted to suit the particular line-up available with this band.

“High Noon" is an original arrangement of Tiomkin's theme for the film High Noon, complete with train whistles and the cooling down of the steam engine at the end.

"Rhapsody for the Duke" is using sonata form like structure to present some great themes by Duke Ellington, namely "Harlem Air Shaft," "Creole Rhapsody"(later version), and "The Tattooed Bride"(Strayhorn/Ellington)

“The Meaning of the Blues" is a transcription of Gil Evans’ arrangement of Bobby Troup's melody, with Bill Evans' intro to "So What" added at the start (both parts associated with Miles Davis). Not a carbon copy, but following closely these inspirations.

“Thruway” is a transcription of Gerry Mulligan's composition based on "Broadway" from the Basie book, and uses the idea of more than one soloist playing simultaneously, like cool hip trad jazz, sort of.

“Round Midnight” by Thelonius Monk is one of those tunes with different chord possibilities, and musicians often quibble over which are the correct chords, so it seemed like a good idea to change the chords big time so they are all wrong, but sound good nonetheless. I also had the clock strike 12 for an intro just to remind us all that it's midnight and people are trying to sleep, further encouraging the soloists to keep the noise down.

“Can't Find My Keys” was written for Steve Grant who, amongst other things, requested some diminished chords as part of the picture. I think of it as a bent swing tune, a distant relative of "A Gal in Calico" but with shifting ground as to exactly what key we think we are in.

"Norway" is my arrangement of two of the big tunes in the Peer Gynt music of Edward Grieg (we travelled in Norway in 2019).

"Morning Melody" is about a sunrise and "In the Hall of the Mountain King" seems to be a battle so it ends with a musical punchup. Billy Strayhorn (perhaps also Duke Ellington) did some of this music in their suites where they did jazz/classical fusions, usually to condemnation from the narrow minded critics. I borrowed just a little of their work, but certainly was influenced by them in the broad approach to the subject.

“I’m Coming Virginia" is a 1920s tune by Donald Heywood, a Trinidad born songwriter, and was made famous by Ethel Waters in a vocal version at that time. Also associated with Bix Beiderbecke for his marvellous recording, I have set it as a gospel tune morphing into swing, and returning to gospel at the very end.

“Double Talk” by trumpeters Howard McGhee and ‘Fats’ Navarro is a bop tune from the 1940s and has gone from small band to big band line-up.

"Ballad for the Bush" an original, is like a sad version of "All Amongst the Wool, Boys" (like Irish folk songs which were adapted with new words to the Australian environment) I think of Henry Lawson and "On the Night Train" and nostalgia wells up in me, a bitter sweet feeling about the bush.

“Say a Little Prayer” by Burt Bacharach was used by saxophonist Roland Kirk as a vehicle to showcase his love of John Coltrane after the latter's demise. In a live recording at the Newport Jazz Festival (USA) in the 1960s, Roland included some themes from "A Love Supreme" as well as "It's Clear Out of this World" by Harold Arlen (which had been recorded by Coltrane). It was an easy choice to beef up this arrangement into a big band version.

“Waltz for Debbie” by Bill Evans is like a little nightcap at the end of the gig; a sweet tune that sounds good with tuba, clarinets, flutes and mute trumpets.

And finally - all arrangements are made with space for the soloists in the band, giving them a chance to ‘strut their stuff’.

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