On Our Way

This composition was written especially for the Early Bird Jazz Band students at Linus Pauling Middle School - these guys get up extra early just for the fun of making music. They are truly on their way! They sound great too!

Here's an MP3 recording of On Our Way (by Rob Birdwell) ~5 minutes long. I did a quick overdub of the Trumpet parts but the rest is all MIDI stuff...so it sounds, er...well, sort of how it should sound...but everyone knows you REAL players will sound MUCH better! With a bit of luck and hard work we'll be ready to perform this as a combined group with the Corvallis High School Jazz Band(s) at our concert, Wednesday, January 26 2005 at 7 PM, at CHS.

Note to players: Get to know the form of the chart (where sections repeat, where to break, where the D.S. goes back to, where the coda is, etc.). There's a LOT of harmony and accidentals in this arrangement! (Welcome to the world of Jazz!) Trust the part - most of the notes are actually right! Practice those challenging parts slowly - you might not be able to play with the recording right away, but DO listen to the recording and do work through it so you can play along. Once you've worked through your part of few times and begin to feel confident, crank up that stereo and play along. Remember, every practice session should be like a performance.

Have fun!

Attention Middle School and High School Jazz Ensemble/Band directors: the full score and parts to On Our Way are available from BirdwellMusic.com - contact me for the details.

On Our Way - MP3 rendition of the Full Score ~5 minutes
On Our Way - PDF Director Score

Difficulty: 2.5 - 3

Instrumentation:

• Saxs (Alto 1, Alto 2, Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Baritone Sax)
• Trumpets 1, 2, & 3
• Trombones 1 & 2
• Bass
• Drums
• Percussion 1 & 2
• Guitar 1 (Jazz)
• Guitar 2 (Overdrive)
• Piano
• Organ
• Synth