Posted by Tom Holtz on November 11, 2003 at 23:04:30:
In Reply to: Tuba solo w/ jazz band posted by Matt Buck on November 11, 2003 at 17:35:55:
Back in the Disney Band days, and that was a while ago, bass trombonist George Roberts gave a masterclass and talked for a bit about finding stuff to do with a jazz band. As a bass bone, he was in the same boat we all are. His solution was to use charts for vocalist and jazz band. He played several arrangements for us, none of them too difficult, that were all available over the counter at the music store. He took the vocal part, stuck it in a nice, comfortable, low octave, and there it was.
Generally, an arrangement for vocalist and band doesn't have any improv in the vocal part. If there's any room for solos at all, it'll be in one of the band parts, probably sax. If you feel like taking it yourself, more power to you. An arrangement that features sax or trumpet will almost always have a little improv, often a full chorus or two. If you find a good chart, by all means, go for it. Tubas have been stealing rep from everyone else for almost a century, no point in stopping now.
Now if you're looking for an honest-to-God tuba feature with a jazz band, well, it's hard to find 'em. As you might imagine, there's not a whole lot of money in big band tuba features. I'm in the process of putting a few together myself, and it's been interesting. I'm ripping off a trombone solo, a friend in town has actually arranged a few charts for me, and I'm "tweaking" a chart that wasn't meant to be a feature at all. Go figure.
Look through any catalogs that your band director has, and see what's there for a vocal feature. If you see something you like, play it. Don't worry if it's four octaves down from where it was intended, it's all about being musical and having fun. If you want to improv a bit and there isn't a spot for it in the chart, sit down with the director and figure out where to repeat a section to give yourself a chance to play. There's a lot of stuff out there for vocal and band; you'll find something you like. Good luck!
By the way, if you've been covering the bass book for three years on tuba, that's a whole lot of playing. Nice job.
TH