In the Wee Small Hours

As recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra on the album "Frankly Basie: Count Basie Plays the Hits of Frank Sinatra," this Billy Byers arrangement is a fantastic medium-slow swing chart. It's classic Basie with a soft, swinging melody, room for solos, and an "in-your-face" shout chorus which then returns to the quiet melody with a gentle ending. In this original version, the shout chorus is unchanged, and changes are provided for tenor saxophone, trumpet and piano soloists and the rhythm section. Big band music doesn't get any better than this!