December Sale coming up

Between December 1st and 31st, there will, as usual, be a sale. Take the opportunity to buy unique, fantastic sounding and fun to play Big Band charts at a discount.

Because this year is so special, the reduction will be 25% off on all arrangements, and 30% off on all compositions.

Now, when the Corona pandemy ravage the world (as it has for almost a year), and all social activities are shut down due to the need for social distancing, I believe that we have to look forward to a time when we can meet and spend time together unrestricted: The time after Corona. This is why I keep writing music, and arranging recurring sales; because it reminds me of how fun it is to play with others.

Stay safe everybody! I wish all of you visiting here the best.

P.S The contact form on my site is still not working properly, and I’m working to solve the issue. If anyone would want to make contact, there is an e-mail address given in the “Instructions” column, seen on the right side when viewing the individual products. D.S

New arrangement in the shop

I laughed when I learned of the expression “buckle polisher” (a slow dance, maybe more at the end of the night) from an online friend some months ago, when I asked at an internet forum for new ideas on what to compose or arrange for Big Band. A term both self explanatory and a euphemism that the English vernacular is full of, and that I, as not having English as a native tongue, really enjoy to learn as deeper understanding of how a language is used to create meanings beyond the mere exchange of phrases.

Now I have arranged my version of what a “buckle polisher” could be: An arrangement for two featured trombone soloists of the song “But Beautiful”. Being a trombonist myself, I really should have written such a piece long ago, but I – obviously – needed someone from the outside to point me in that direction.

From today, this new arrangment is available in the web shop, and I sincerely hope that I have produced an arrangement that will be both rewarding for the band and the soloists, as well as for the dancing audience at the end of the night.

September ending

September seems to be a month in-between; it’s the month which can be very much autumn-like, but can also be warm, humid and strongly resembling a late August – not yet autumn, not still summer. In Sweden, this year’s September has been warm and humid, with trees still green and many plants still finding the strength to mount flowers. I’ve even seen bumblebees flying about; almost into October!

On my part, I’ve had to invest in a new double case for my alto and tenor trombones. I used my old case intensively and daily for some twelve years before it got so worn that it could no longer be in use, and now a new double case – pictured here – has entered my service. I hope it will be a good and long lasting investment.

Here in Sweden, some big bands have begun to cautiously rehearse again, and I sincerely hope that the infection spreading will slow down over the coming months, to make more regular rehearsing and performing possible; but – as has become customary this year – we’ll have to wait and see…… Nevertheless, I am working on some new charts that soon will be published here upon completion.

Stay safe everybody! I wish all of you visiting here good health, and that you remain so.

Just a few days left…..

….of the Summer Sale!

This years’ Summer Sale ends on August 31. This means that there still is time to buy some new, unique Big Band charts at a larger discount than usual, due to the all-wrecking Corona pandemy. 30% off on all compositions, and 25% off on all arrangements.

Also: Check out the promotional charts available for free downloading in the section “Charts for free”, to get a taste of what my writing is like.

I really hope the pandemy will subside, and that orchestral activities can go back to something like normal.

I wish all you visiting here to stay safe!

The promises of July

July is a wonderful summer month – if you’re on the part of the planet that has summer in July, of course. To me, July brings a sense of maturity, hope and an interesting intermission between the everydays of the rest of the year; I get the feeling that July is the time to plan ahead, lay out ideas and to form wishes. Maybe all this is because July is a month for vacationing and relaxation, so that ideas and plans can be pondered and matured in calm and peace. Anyway: I firmly believe that activity must be paired with rest to be fruitful and useful; especially in the long run.

Right now, the Corona virus pandemy is putting a stop on much planning, many ideas and a lot of activity, and I hope that it will wane and vanish soon without many more having to suffer and die.

The summer sale is, with or without planning, under way. Take the opportunity to buy superbly sounding and excitingly playing Big Band charts at a discount. This year the abatement is larger than usual; 30% on all compositions, and 25% on all arrangements.

I wish all of you visiting here, a healthy and prosperous summer. Stay safe everybody!

These long summer nights

Late June, early July, is in Sweden the time of long, bright nights where it feels like sunset is never happening. It’s the time of vacationing; to rest, recover and to just be lazy. I love this time of the year.

After a really tough spring for everybody and with the Corona pandemy far from over, I hope these long, romantic nights of June and July can bring rest, respite and recuperation for us all. I, on my behalf, plan on being at my summer house for as many weeks as possible, to get away from the city’s noise and bustle.

The summer sale is fully under way. Take the opportunity to buy unique and stimulating big band charts at a discount to reinvigorate your band’s repertoire for when it’s possible to have rehearsals again. The reduction this year is more than usual because of the special circumstances, and the sale prices are now 25% off on all arrangements, and 30% off on all compositions.

I wish all you visiting here a great Summer!

Summer Sale is coming up

As usual, there will be a Summer Sale. Because the circumstances are so special this year, I have decided to increase the discount. The new sale prices are 30% off on all compositions, and 25% off on all arrangements.

The sale is, as usual, between June 1:st and August 31:st. It can be good to look forward to playing some new and unique charts with your band, once the restrictions finally are over.

Stay safe everybody! I wish all you visiting here to stay healthy, and to have a really nice summer.

New arrangement in the shop

Finally, the “Charts for free” section is complete with the fourth and last chart; an arrangement of A-C Jobim’s well known bossa “Wave”. Now all four categories of the shop are represented by one free chart each.

Welcome to check this new chart out. It has not been band tested and proof-read yet, since – as everybody knows by now – all rehearsals are cancelled due to infection-preventing restrictions.

I wish all of you visiting here all the best!

The Unavoidable Subject

I’d rather post a picture of a cute animal, like a leaping fox, than of a virus; a tiny piece of DNA or RNA that science dispute whether it is a life form or not. Nevertheless: Here is a stylized picture of the Corona virus that currently infects people all over the world at a stunning rate, causing a crackdown on social events and gatherings.

It’s strange to think that viruses seem to be an inevitable product of how life on earth functions, and that viruses have had a profound part in the development of life on Earth, when they also can be the worst disease-inducing menace one can imagine. Some of the worst diseases imaginable are induced by viruses – like Ebola, Marburg Disease and Rabies – while our own cells long, long ago may have assimilated some ancient viruses that made it possible for our cells in the form of Mitochondrions to produce energy for our organisms (as far as I know some say that it might have been assimilated bacteria instead, and some argue it might have been viruses).

In the end, it seems as it is viruses that have come wrong that make us humans sick; that we have accidentally come into contact with a piece of genetic material where either we, or it should not be. This is what counts now: that we all are in the right places. Whether it be in quarantine because you avoid being infected, or for the risk of infecting someone; whether you are in need of hospital care, or at a job that is vital to society or at home being sick – I hope that you all are, or soon will be, at the right place for you, where care, healing and safety is for you.

Stay safe everybody, and I wish all of you visiting here all the best in this time of world wide peril.

Leap Year

2020 is a leap year. Thus, February will have 29 days and we will have a Summer Olympics in Tokyo in July and August, unless the outbreak of Covid-19 (the Corona virus) cripples the whole event.

Having a leap year brings even more to our societies than just a sports event and one extra day: sometimes it’s superstition or social traditions regarding the extra day, and for some it brings the problem of counting their birthdays if they’re born on the 29th of February. Regardless of all this, it is fun to know that leaping seems to be a common behaviour among very many species on earth for many different reasons: Fish leap, squids leap, humans leap, as well as this pictured, beautiful fox leaping for a vole or a mouse under the snow.

I wish all you visiting here a great Leap Year, and I want to remind you that you can leap to the “Charts for free” section of this web page, to have some nice charts leaping home to you for free use. The fourth, and final, free chart – which will be an instrumental arrangement of Jobim’s “Wave” – is under way, and will be published here upon completion.