It seems like Sunny has been covered a million times. It’s such a beautiful song! I’ve played at least a few different arrangements in my time, including an incredible one that I transcribed by Jamiroquai. But this time I transcribed and recorded the original 1966 arrangement as first recorded by composer Bobby Hebb.
Parts are here for trumpet and tenor sax. It was very difficult to hear all of the faint sax lines on the original recording, so there are a few educated guesses in places. But I promise that it works 🙂
Such an iconic song, bringing luscious strings and horns to The Doors in 1968. So I was amazed that I couldn’t find and purchase charts for this that were even close to matching the original recording. Determined to push ahead I was able to decipher all of the horn parts, while my masterfully talented friend Ynping transcribed the strings.
So here you find charts for strings (3 violins, 3 cellos) and the horn section (2 trumpets, trombone, alto sax, tenor sax, and baritone sax). Very closely aligned to the original recording.
This song was a crowd favorite when I held the trumpet chair in the rock band Summerhouse during the late 1980s/early 1990s. But the entire brass section of the band consisted of me, and my transcription at the time was limited. And never mind the synth strings… But now, with the benefit of experience, new software tools at my fingertips, remastered source recordings, and such a talented violinist as a good friend, this transcription and its performance were finally possible.
This recording started within the Bandhub platform while it was online, but after a long pause, it was finished offline through the addition of final tracks, a DAW mix, and a custom video. My sincere thanks to all of my friends for their contributions to this wonderful project. I couldn’t be happier with it!
Credits:
Andrew Mayes: trombone
Clay Whisenant: bass
Emily Johnson: cellos
James Wilkas: alto, tenor, and baritone saxes, keys, DAW mix, video edit
The Jamiroquai horn section must surely have had a blast, back in the day. This stuff is a lot of fun to play. And transcribing it keeps me on my toes, as seemingly repeated horn lines contain subtle variations all the way through and nothing can be taken for granted.
Once more, along with the trumpet part I’ve provided for alternate alto or tenor sax parts, to give you more flexibility. I’m pretty sure Jamiroquai used one trumpet and one tenor sax in the original studio recording.
I’ve recorded the trumpet part in an online BandLab collaboration. Once all of the other contributions are assembled and the recording is properly mixed, I’ll update this post to include it.
I love these guys! Always fun to transcribe and play Jamiroquai horn parts, and the trumpet/flugelhorn player gets a nice workout this time around. I’ve recorded my parts and am waiting for my musician buddies to do theirs. When complete, I’ll update this post to include the recording (as usual).
This time I’ve written alternating tenor/alto sax charts to give you a little more flexibility.
Take Me to the River, from the soundtrack to the movie The Commitments. It was very difficult to hear all of the horn lines in parts of the original recording, particularly as the energy of the performance builds, so I’ve made a few educated guesses in spots. But they are good guesses, and very close to Al Green’s original arrangement of this great song.
I love playing these soul tunes! So much fun to play on trumpet.
I couldn’t be sure if the soundtrack recording featured two saxes or a sax/trombone combination. So I wrote for trumpet, tenor sax, and trombone, figuring that might be a little more useful for anyone who wants to use the charts in the future.
Update Jan 3, 2020: Our BandLab project is complete. I’ve updated this post with our recording.
This 1992 hit for Swing Out Sister was a cover of the song first recorded by Barbara Acklin in 1968. Although, it is perhaps better known as the 1968 instrumental hit single “Soulful Strut” recorded and released by Young-Holt Unlimited. I think I first heard it in a shopping mall or an elevator somewhere.
Anyway, here’s how I heard the horn parts in my head, and subsequently recorded with musicians from around the planet.
The guys from Scary Pockets have quite a following on the Scary Pockets YouTube channel and are well worth checking out. This time, in one of their most popular funky covers, they put a new twist on the Guns N’ Roses hit Sweet Child O’ Mine. And I got to transcribe and cover their work.
It’s nice to get a trumpet solo in on a GNR track!
This recording started in Bandhub, while it was still online, with sax, keys and a DAW mix all added later to complete the collab. This was also my first attempt at video editing. 😬
