SST Blog

David Berger and the Sultans of Swing performing Three Oranges, David Berger's arrangement of the march from Prokofiev's opera The Love For Three Oranges, at Swing 46 in New York City on October 13, 2019. Personnel performing:   Jay Brandford Kurt Bacher Jay Rattman Mark Hynes Carl Maraghi   Bob Millikan Colin Brigstocke Irv Grossman Kerry MacKillop   Wayne Goodman Willie Applewhite Nana Sakamoto   Isaac ben Ayala Mathias Pichler Greg Joseph   Like this arrangement?  Play it with your own band!  This chart is available for purchase here.

Big PDF Sale Announcement: The PDF versions of all our big band charts are on sale from January 27-February 10.  Usually these cost $75 per chart, and the sale price is $49.95. We have added quite a few new charts to the catalog in the last few months, so have a look at the current offerings. Shop Big Band Charts Now

1/26/20   The last couple of weeks have been frustrating for me. I lived most of my life without the electronic connections of cell phones and the Internet, but being disconnected from one of those can wreak havoc on one’s life or business. I’ve known teenagers who have cried when their cell phones were taken away. I’m not particularly addicted to either modern contrivance, fortunately.   Starting about two weeks ago my assistant, J.Q., and I were unable to access my website. This not only meant that we were unable to post blogs or videos, but that our website was...

1/8/20   This morning I read an obit of the artist and teacher John Baldessari in the New York Times. The final sentence quotes him as saying, “Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings.” Since I’m always trying to define what makes some art great, I have to give this some thought.   When I was young, I pretty much saw things as either black or white. The messy middle ground brought up too many problems and required a maturity I lacked. Let’s face it; life with clear boundaries is much easier to navigate than the thorny world of...

David Berger and the Sultans of Swing performing David Berger's arrangement of The Man I Love by George and Ira Gershwin at Swing 46 in New York City on October 13, 2019. Personnel performing: Jay Brandford Kurt Bacher Jay Rattman Mark Hynes Carl Maraghi   Bob Millikan Colin Brigstocke Irv Grossman Kerry MacKillop   Wayne Goodman Willie Applewhite Nana Sakamoto   Isaac ben Ayala Mathias Pichler Greg Joseph   Like this arrangement?  Play it with your own band!  This chart is available for purchase here.