Sammy Nestico - The Complete Arranger is Excellent

Sammy Nestico - The Complete Arranger" is Excellent

Whenever I start a new chart, I always feel like an arranging newbie.  You would think after 25 years and hundreds of charts later I would be able to just whip them off and make them sound good.  For me, that's not the case. 

I played a boat cruise gig with Chris Riddle (Nelson's son) a number of years back on the Mississipi and he told alot of terrific stories of the Sinatra years when his dad was writing alot of charts for Frank and Capitol records.  One that stuck in my mind was that he would board a plane in NYC to LA with just a blank scorepad.  By the time he arrived in LA the chart was finished and ready to give to the copyist.  Must be nice!

Anyway, on my quest for more arranging knowledge, I finally picked up Sammy Nestico's book called The Complete Arranger. (I know, I know, I should have had this in my library years ago....) After going through it more than a few times, I can only say that I highly recommend it to anyone interested in arranging for big band or orchestra.  The musical examples are terrific (although not long enough for me!) and there are tons of musical excerpts to learn from.  And Sammy never writes a chart that doesn't just sound perfect.  Everything fits.  Perfectly balanced.  That's the hardest thing too when it comes to writing I think, just getting everything to flow from beginning to end, to tell a story.

The Complete Arranger is on Amazon used right now for alot less than I paid!  But even at $50 it's a bargain.