JE: Too Darn Hot

Jazz Big Band Arrangement

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book was quite possibly the most important recording of not only the career of Fitzgerald herself, but also producer Norman Granz, whose Verve recording label debuted with the release of this album. Although they all excite in their own ways, arranger Buddy Bregman's appropriately heated arrangement of Porter's Too Darn Hot stands out as a particularly strong member of Fitzgerald and Granz's budding professional relationship.

The hard-riffing saxophone and trombone sections set up Fitzgerald's entry at measure 5. The volume level stays at a fairly comfortable medium level throughout the majority of the arrangement, but backgrounds should always be aware to never outshine the vocalist's presence. Drum cues have been written in throughout to allow the drummer to coordinate their accompaniment with what the horn sections are doing.

Things stay fairly simple until the arrangement really ratchets things up for an ensemble shout section beginning with the pickups to measure 50. Although the band uses a souped-up variation of the melody as its main melody line, Bregman throws some occasional interjections in here and there from the saxophones and trombones to keep things interesting. The Milt Bernhart-led trombone section gets to star at measure 58, slipping and sliding around another reworked version of the melody for 8 measures.

The second A section at measure 66 begins not with a re-entry of the vocalist, but with a 4 bar muted trumpet solo, provided by the incomparable Harry "Sweets" Edison on the original recording. Fitzgerald returns at the pickup to the 5th bar with some recycled background figures from the ensemble. A repeated chorus of "too darn hot" is repeated twice at measure 114 with Edison providing solo fills over top before the ensemble returns at full strength for the final salvo at measure 122, with the trombone, bass and drums bringing the arrangement to a crisp, clean finish.

This arrangement is for jazz big band featuring female vocal soloist. Most of the material in this publication has been prepared from Bregman’s original pencil score and the original set of parts used during the 1956 recording session. Unfortunately, the shout section (from measures 49-65) and ending (from measure 122 on) did not appear in the original parts, as they were likely written as inserts. This insert section is currently lost. In order to preserve the original arrangement as best as possible, these sections have been transcribed to complete the arrangement. The vocal key is Eb throughout and there are no doubles. This would be a great festival or concert piece!