Stairway To The Blues – Gene Roland

This song is very well titled: the first four measures of the head climb, for sure, but not evenly like a slide or a ramp. The motion here, with thirds each a step higher, seems particularly stair-like. Since there is no out head in the big band arrangement, the lead sheet shows the in head, with a four-measure send-off for the first soloist as in the arrangement, as well as the final shout chorus. The original arrangement modulates to A♭ for some solos, and then D♭ for more solos and the shout chorus; thus the shout chorus is shown in D♭ in the lead sheet.

It's fun to play in a big band, but a lot of big band music can also be very enjoyable in a small combo setting. After the first four measures of the melody, the melody is turned over to the lead trumpet player. We've elected to leave the melody as is in the B♭ lead sheets in case a trumpet player is also a lead player and wants to try to lock in the high notes with the Woody Herman brass section. In a small quartet setting, you'd probably want to take these high parts down an octave, as well as the first eight measures of the shout chorus. For the very last two measures, we show the interplay of the sax line with the brass line. One instrument can play it all, or a single horn could split it up with a pianist or guitarist, for example.

The Woody Herman Orchestra's first recording was in 1936. Gene Roland's first recorded arrangement seems to have been in 1951, and his arrangements were featured frequently after that into the early '60s. The Lord Discography lists 474 sessions for the Herman band.

For another song from this album, check out Wailin' In The Woodshed. For other Roland titles recorded by Stan Kenton and Roland's own band, see the list.