Product Description
Part of the Great American Songbook, Irvine Berlin's popular jazz classic Puttin On The Ritz, written and registered in 1927, was first sung by American nightclub performer Harry Richman in the 1930 musical film Puttin On The Ritz. While the film was unremarkable, the song has endured.
There are many covers, including Fred Astaire (1930), Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby (1946), and Ella Fitzgerald (1958).
The song was also used in many films, including Idiot's Delight (sung by Clark Gable), Blues Skies (1946), and Young Frankenstein (1974).
It regained popularity with the 1982 version by Dutch musician TACO. This cover reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, making then 95-year-old Berlin the oldest living songwriter to have a composition enter the top ten.
The lyrics are about dressing up in fancy clothes to look stylish and impress. The reference to the Ritz is the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York, known for its lavish and high-end image.
Musically, there is a wonderful conversation between the complex syncopated passages and the more traditional straight passages.
This arrangement for a quintet of British Brass Band instruments (orchestral brass parts included) and optional drum set is upbeat and quirky, evoking fun and sophistication. An excellent chart for when your audience is in a party mood!
Duration 2:00 27 pages
Sound clip generated by Noteperformer.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.