Review

James Pierpont
Jingle Bells:

Arranged by Jeff Reynolds

Trombone quartet: 3 tenor, 1 bass trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 1963 / 2021
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

Written in a similar style to American Patrol March, this Jeff Reynolds arrangement of Jingle Bells is sure to be a holiday crowd pleaser. It begins in a bright swing style with an ostinato in the bass trombone part. The melody of the famous chorus enters in the fifth measure and is then repeated transposed up a half step in what feels like a big band shout chorus. After the second repetition of the chorus, the bass trombone enters with the song verse melody while the other parts play syncopated background figures. When the verse ends the bass ostinato from the beginning reenters along with the Jingle Bells chorus. The arrangement ends with jazzy tutti chords complete with a slow fall off of the last one.

This is a widely accessible arrangement. While intended for trombone quartet, it will probably also work well for larger ensembles. It begins in the key of D and modulates to E-flat. All the parts are written in bass clef. The first trombone part plays up to c² several times; the bass trombone part never plays below D. The  upper three parts contain shakes, but otherwise present no excessively difficult technical demands for most intermediate level college or professional trombonists. Jeff Renolds’s Jingle Bells will surely prove itself to be an important piece of holiday nostalgia for any winter concert program.