Scores

Dancing on a Great Big Rainbow

“Dancing on a Great Big Rainbow” is a rare but welcomed, original composition by Gil, written for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra in late 1950. Gil had reworked this arrangement for several different bands during this time, but somehow the piece went unrecorded. Thankfully we were able to record this amazing, unique chart for the first time on our album, CENTENNIAL: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans on ArtistShare® in celebration of Gil’s 100th birthday in 2012.

As with all of Gil’s music, close attention needs to be paid to the instrumentation, as it rarely resembles a standard big band. The instrumentation for “Dancing on a Great Big Rainbow” is as follows:

• 5 Reeds:

  • Reed 1:  Alto Sax

  • Reed 2:  Alto Sax

  • Reed 3:  Tenor Sax

  • Reed 4:  Tenor Sax

  • Reed 5:  Baritone Sax

• 1 French Horn

• 3 Trumpets

• 2 Trombones

• 3 Rhythm (Pno./Bass/Dms.)

Solos include: Reed 3 (Tenor), Piano, and Trumpet 2