Ella Fitzgerald 's wonderful

[kasparli]

Hello there,

Just listened to the recording of Ella Fitzgerald 's wonderful with the arrangement (I think) from Billy May. Has anyone got an idea where to find this arrangement?

Simon

[felser]

[page]

Hi kasparli,
I haven't seen it around. The Vocal Big band arrangements in the Sherwood music library (they have collected a lot) are the ones from Jimmy Lally, Ken Macombre, Artie Shaw and Dave Wolpe. I have used that last one myself. I've checked with lushlifemusic which did some transcriptions of Ella's, but there is only the instrumental arrangement by Artie Shaw. What key is it in? This can help to narrow down the arrangements. There are companies who will transcribe arrangements for you, so maybe that's an idea? I think Billy May did the Harlon Arlen songbook with Ella, so it probably is a Nelson Riddle arrangement. Where did you hear the song?

[Ted O'Reilly]

The Artie Shaw band's "S'Wonderful" (recorded 1945.01.09) was arranged by Ray Conniff.

Conniff used the same arrangement (with a bit of editing and changing reeds for voices, dropping solos and solo BGs) on his mid-'50s Columbia debut recording, called (of all things!) 'S Wonderful.

The tempo is identical, and if you have both versions and can sync them, they match perfectly.

It's a great arrangement, I think.

Kasparli, just to add.... Is there any reason to think that Nelson Riddle is NOT the arranger of Ella's version? Many leader/arrangers use some ghost writers, of course, but why wouldn't Riddle be the arranger?

[kasparli]

Dear Ted, Page and Felser,

Yes now you say it I think it is Nelson Riddle that wrote the arrangement, the trouble is that the arranger almost never gets mentioned, so I'l go with the suggestion of Felser. The picture you show, is that the front of the book, or is that the record?

Thanks a lot already!

[page]

It looks like the record, I do recognize the cover. Arrangements are usually in black and white without a picture, but it could be they included a title page. Mostly they do not come in books but in loose pages, so it can be handed out to the whole band. I've checked and the arrangement must be in Bb, when it is Nelson Riddle's. I didn't hear it before, how lovely she sings the verse too! I think you should look for a transcription, although sometimes they leave out the verse with transcriptions. In this case that would be a pity. I've seen a transcription of her A Foggy Day and the verse was left out there too. Ejazzlines has a lot of Nelson Riddle arrangements, but not this one. At another site, I did see her name mentioned with this title but they said it was in Eb so that wouldn't be the one you are looking for.
Is it this one?

Edited February 20, 2014 by page

[king ubu]

(the pic is the cover of the 4CD edition of the Gershwin songbook - just the edition to go for, if you want the album - skip the various euro-crap PD ones!)

[kasparli]

Hello Page,

Yes it is this version, I ordered the cd's in the meantime, and yes the picture is the original cover of the LP. I am still interested in the arrangement, I will try what you suggested and look for in on Ejazzlines, other suggestions are welcome. It is a lovely arrangement especially with the verse. In the chorus, in the middle section you can hear he used the same kind of build as in the song 'I've got you under my skin' that was sung by Frank Sinatra.

Thanks

kasparli

[page]

Hi kasparli,
I think you've misunderstood. The companies I've mentioned, Lushlifemusic and Ejazzlines, both do not have this particular arrangement. I'm a fan of Ella's arrangements myself, but I've never seen it so far. I do understand why you like it so much and will keep an eye out for you I did mention you can let someone transcribe it for you and the band you're in. There are companies that do that as well. That way you won't have to worry about the copyrights, since that should already been taken care of when you order it.
When you just want the vocal chart, you could try writing down the melody yourself or let someone help you with that. Some vocal charts could be in some book, like the chart of the arrangement of "A Tisket, a tasket" is in the Just Standards Real Book f.e..
Anyway, hope you'll find it. Good luck!
regards, page

Edited February 22, 2014 by page

[JSngry]

If it's the score you want, it should be here: http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/riddle/collection/index.html#search

Getting a copy, much less parts, might prove more challenging. But start asking questions here.