Goin' On

Benny Carter's 'Goin' On' was written for one of two sessions the first Renaissance man of jazz made with the Count Basie Orchestra in the early 1960s. While retaining Carter's distinct musical identity, it manages to be an excellent fit for the classic Basie band style at the same time. The 1962 album "The Legend" brought together two of the swing era's biggest titans: pianist/bandleader Count Basie and saxophonist/composer Benny Carter. Despite their markedly different musical histories, these two luminaries' styles merged together in such a way that their individual personalities still shined through while creating an unforgettable unified sound. Of all the arrangements from this album, "Goin' On" is perhaps the most traditionally Basie-ish of the bunch. Carter's pen even liberally borrows ideas from some of Basie's other arrangers at the time, such as the Billy Byers-esque fanfare that opens this particular chart. A simple riff-based blues melody is stated in unison by the saxophones beginning at measure 9, backed up by some barking brass hits. Another quick fanfare at measure 33 heralds the arrival of a two chorus Basie piano solo. There are some saxophone backgrounds during this part, so make sure your section stays underneath the piano. The full band gets to shine in a single chorus of soli at measure 57. The brass and saxes toss ideas back and forth between each other before allowing Frank Foster's tenor saxophone two choruses of fun beginning at measure 69. Carter employs another Basie trademark - the slowly building ensemble soli - beginning at measure 93. The brass handle the chromatically ascending main line by themselves for the first chorus before a simple blues riff is passed between the saxes and trombones to set up the full force shout at measure 105. Authoritative brass trade off with bluesy saxophones before the melody is re-stated at measure 117. The arrangement comes to a close with a couple tags of the final melody riff, one last strong hit, and a surprisingly dissonant last chord. This publication has been based on Benny Carter's original pencil score - it is not a transcription.