Us, composed by Thad Jones in 1970 and originally recorded that same year, is one of the pieces which defined the new sound of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. While being one of the most successful, early melding of big band instrumentation with rock rhythms and rhythm section instruments, it also includes an a cappella chorus for the ?band? (for this version, read: ?trombones?) and intricate saxophone lines which are challenging but very rewardingly playable.

David Fletcher has done a magnificent job of translating the richness of Thad?s voicings and the exuberance and spirit of this piece to the Trombone quintet plus rhythm section instrumentation of the University of Illinois Jazz Trombone Ensemble, who have performed it at both American Trombone Workshops and International Trombone Festivals.

David Fletcher, a member of the award winning University of Illinois Jazz Trombone Ensemble under the direction of Jim Pugh arranged this great chart for Trombone Quintet and rhythm section. It is about 4 minutes in length and includes improvised jazz solos for Trombone 2 and Electric Guitar.

Jones wrote this work in 1958 for a small group session with his two brothers Hank (piano) and Elvin (drums) and is in the album Keepin' Up With The Joneses. The title refers to the three brothers plus another Jones, Eddie, who was the bass player on the session...therefore Three and One.

David Fletcher, a member of the award winning University of Illinois Jazz Trombone Ensemble under the direction of Jim Pugh arranged this great chart for Trombone Quintet and rhythm section. It is about 7-8 minutes in length and includes improvised jazz solos for Bass Trombone and 2nd Trombone and is appropriate for advanced performers.

Samuel Scheidt's Galliard Battaglia composed around 1621, has become one of the most recognized works in the brass quintet repertoire. This secular work was originally written for five viols. The Galliard dance style, very popular at the time serves as a perfect "foil" for the music's echoing back-and-forth fanfares and brilliant scales.

Neal Bennett of iTromboni has done a great job of arranging this music for Trombone quintet of 2 altos (possible on tenor also), 2 tenors & bass, playable by advanced performers. Length is about 2 minutes.

The brilliant sound track sample is taken from a live performance by iTromboni.

Here is what the arranger, Ross Holcombe says about his great scoring of this wonderful and unique work by Ives.

Ives finished the majority of his Concord Sonata, from which this movement is excerpted, in 1915. According to Ives, the piece reflects on the old Alcott house in Concord, MA, but I feel a greater struggle in this work than a mere journal about a piece of architecture. The fact that Ives quotes Beethoven?s 5th Symphony so extensively makes me wonder about his views on destiny, fate, the future, and the creative process.

The piece starts serenely but quickly devolves into uncertainty, doubt, and anger. A floating interlude brings us back to distant memories where we remember that we are shaped by our past, but have control of the direction of our future. Building on that realization and quickly gaining steam, the piece ends with a powerful and joyful climax. The angry Beethoven theme is transformed into one of power, hope, and light. A feeling of calm and contentment ends the piece, finally coming to rest on one simple C major chord.

This work is scored for 10 trombones: 1 alto, 7 tenor, and 2 bass trombones and is appropriate for advanced performers.

La Peri is a ballet in one act by Paul Dukas, written in 1912 and first performed in Paris. The Fanfare was originally scored for full brass ensemble, however this great arrangement for Trombone Quintet by Andrew Poirier is one of the favorites of the Canadian Trombone Ensemble iTromboni.

For advanced performers, the work is about 2 minutes in length.

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Prelude Op. 3, No. 2 is one of the composer's most famous compositions and is also known as The Bells of Moscow since the introduction seems to reproduce the Kremlin's most solemn carillon chimes. (Wikipedia).

This fantastic arrangement in C minor (the original is in C#) by Kevin Dombrowski for 8-part Trombone Ensemble certainly retains the immense gravity and solemnity of the piano version if not more, with the rich and dramatic sounds of the trombones.

The 4-minute arrangement is appropriate for advanced performers.

Eine Alpensinfonie is Strauss's final and largest scale tone poem. Composed in 1915 (during WWI) Strauss puts into music his feelings of joy and mystery about the glory of nature, especially the mountains. He so loved the mountains that he built a home in the Bavarian Alps with stunning views.

The original work is scored for an enormous orchestra of at least 125 musicians and is about 50 minutes in length. This fantastic 6-minute arrangement by Randall Malmstrom, appropriate for advanced performers is for an 8-part Trombone Ensemble (1 alto, 5 tenors, and 2 bass trombones) and features excerpts from the work that highlight the trombone section's glorious chorals.

A rip-roaring down & out blues chart for 10 bones. An original composition by Canadian Trombone Superstar Al Kay. All 10 parts get a thorough workout with parts 1 & 2 having some great improvised solo choruses. For advanced performers, this work will add a new dimension to a recital or concert

Wagner composed five songs or lieder for voice and piano in 1857-58 based on poems by Mathilde Wesendonck, the wife of one of his patrons, and have thus been known as the Wesendonck Lieder over time. Three of them: Der Engel (The Angel), Schmerzen (Sorrows), and Tr�ume (Dreams) have been beautifully arranged for solo Trombone (may be performed on Tenor or Bass Trombone) and 5-part Trombone Ensemble by Bob Burnham. They are very beautiful to listen to!

Of musical interest....Wagner inscribed the movement Tr�ume as being a "study for Tristan and Isolde".

The three movements are about 9-minutes in length and this arrangement is appropriate for moderately advanced to advanced performers and will add a great deal of musical depth to your recital or concert.

Richard Strauss's opera Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow) was written between 1911 and 1917. He regarded it as one of his most important works. After an unenthusiastic opening night, it has now become part of the standard operatic repertoire.

Randall Malmstrom has brilliantly arranged some of the most outstanding parts of the opera for an 8-part Trombone Ensemble appropriate for advanced performers.

Hill Country Miniatures for 8-part Trombone Ensemble was written by Richard J. Lawn in 2002 for the Trombone Choir at the University of Texas and its director Nathaniel Brickens. The work is dedicated to Donald Knaub its former director. It has become a staple in the American Trombone Ensemble repertoire since its original release. Mr. Lawn explains in the notes, his deep emotional connection to the Hill Country land and to his days at the Eastman School of Music, hearing the legendary Trombone Choir led by Emory Remington and following through to his days at the University of Texas with Knaub and Brickens, all of which inspired him to compose this work.

This music is about 15 minutes in length and is for advanced performers.

The four movements of the work are:

Hickory Cove - September 2001 - a lyrical, somber and solemn introductory movement.

Smithwick - a jaunty piece reflecting the Scottish and English heritage of this tiny Texas spot.

The Narrows - As part of the Colorado River narrows, it twists and turns its way through the Texas Hill Country. You can hear the gentle waters winding through the cliffs and slopes.

Blue Bonnet Boogie - The springtime brings a profusion of the Blue Bonnet, the Texas state flower. A sea of these swaying in the breeze brings out the good old down-home boogie-woogie! A jazz solo featuring Bass Trombone (written for Bill Reichenbach in mind) with solo written out or improvised using chord symbols adds a festive finish.

Cherry Classics is proud to be the new distributor of this great work.

Stuart O'Neil has written a new work entitled "Machinery" in 4 movements for 6-part Trombone ensemble and Percussion. Below is the composer's explanation of his exciting and dramatic work."The four pieces in this collection are written for 6-part trombone ensemble and accompanying percussion; they may be performed together or individually. Each piece is a study in the trombone?s distinct glissando capability and should be approached in a relatively aggressive, but not overly serious, manner: concert music, but with considerable jazz-rock influence, especially in regards to rhythm and dynamics. The pieces are similar, but each has its own character."1. Machine is a well-oiled, highly-functioning machine, with all parts efficiently working together.2. Rush Hour is a hectic, busy traffic scene, but somewhat cartoon-like.3. Suspension Bridge is strong metal under extreme stress, straining but not breaking.4. Assembly Line is a factory conveyor belt: loud, busy, with lots of heavy machinery.This 10 minute work is appropriate for advanced performers.

ROXY by Euan Edmonds is a chart written for Jazz Trombone Quintet and Rhythm section and is part of the University of Illinois Jazz Trombone Ensemble series.

This work begins with a funky bass line that returns several times throughout the work. A sultry melody featuring a solo trombone follows and eventually the work opens up for solos and ends with the entire ensemble laying down some lush rhythmic chords.

ROXY is about 8 minutes in length.

Nabucco is the opera which established Verdi's reputation as a great composer and even he realized its importance as he noted "this is the opera with which my artistic career really begins".

iTromboni alum Kenneth Pearce and Andrew Poirier have skillfully set the Overture to "Nabucco" to highlight the beautiful melodies and technical flare in their arrangement for trombone quintet (2 altos, 2 tenors, bass). As in the original, it all begins with a stately trombone chorale, hints at the big melody of ?Va, pensiero? (the great chorus of the Hebrew slaves) and reaches its energetic conclusion full of gusto!

This arrangement is suitable for advanced performers and can be heard on iTromboni?s debut album: ?there goes the neighbourhood?.

This beautiful arrangement by the great Tony Nalker perfectly captures the spirit of the holidays. This is a terrific chart for featuring your trombone section on your winter concert!

Venus, the Bringer of Peace from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst follows directly after the angry movement of Mars, the God of War. The mood is lyrical and gentle.

Randall Malmstrom's wonderful arrangement for 8-part Trombone ensemble captures the mood exactly with rich harmonies and textures.

The work can be performed by advanced performers.

Symphony No. 9 in D minor by Anton Bruckner is his final work, unfinished and in 3 movements. Randall Malmstrom has arranged another great excerpt from the Austrian master, the Coda of Movement I for an 8-part Trombone Ensemble.

The Coda is solemn, majestic, spiritual, and leaves the listener spellbound, its effect being so overwhelming.

The arrangement of about 3 1/2 minutes in length is appropriate for advanced performers. The top part is in alto clef.

Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst is a lively, buoyant and noble movement from this great suite for orchestra. Randall Malmstrom has defied the rules again and brilliantly arranged this movement for 8-part Trombone Ensemble.

The 3 1/2 minute movement is arranged for advanced performers and will be an outstanding addition to your program.

Nielsen wrote Symphony No. 4 "The Inextinguishable" in 1916 against the backdrop of the First World War. The work expresses "the spirit of life...everything that moves, that wants to live...just life and motion...very varied...yet connected".

Randall Malmstrom has pulled together a 6-minute extract from this amazing work and arranged it for 7-part Trombone Ensemble, appropriate for advanced performers.

Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age has been beautifully arranged for 8-part Trombone Ensemble by Randall Malmstrom. The music is noble, mysterious, and ominous. This great 3-minute arrangement is appropriate for advanced performers

Beethoven's dramatic Overture to Egmont is a major staple in the orchestral repertoire. Randall Malmstrom's great new arrangement of the complete work for 8-part Trombone Ensemble works very well for advanced performers and can be a perfect addition to your next concert.

The March from the Second Suite in F for Military Band (Op. 28, No. 2) by Gustav Holst is a staple of the concert band repertoire. Andrew Poirier has masterfully arranged this band classic for trombone quintet (alto, 3 tenor, bass), complete with optional euphonium solo as in Holst?s original. This English folk song laden gem of about 4 1/2 minutes is sure to delight audiences and is suitable for advanced performers. This arrangement of the Holst March can be heard below and in its entirety on iTromboni?s recently released third album: ?T?Anguish?.