From the recording Sabiá

This arrangement was commissioned by The Westchester Jazz Orchestra for the final concert of their fifth season. It was premiered on June 7, 2008 in Chappaqua, NY and featured Jason Rigby on tenor sax.

Here is a rehearsal clip of Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra, just prior to turning the piece over to Mike Holober's Westchester Jazz Orchestra.

The arrangement begins with a trombone quartet, picking up added players along the way. As it moves into a light bossa nova we hear the melody move to the featured tenor. It is quite playable for college level ensembles and runs about seven minutes.

Score & parts are available through the PRODUCTS page.

Lyrics

This tune's original lyrics are in Portuguese. While this arrangement is not a vocal arrangement, an accurate translation of those lyrcis served as an important inspiration for this orchestration:

I’ll go back, I know now that
I’ll go back, to my place.
It was there, and still there that I will hear
A sabiá sing, sing, my sabiá.

I’ll go back, I know now that
I’ll go back, I will lie in the shadow of a palm tree
that’s no longer there,
And pick a flower that is no longer there,
And maybe I can find love to frighten the lonely night away,
The lonely, unwanted night,
That may bring me to the new day.

I’ll go back, I know now that
I’ll go back, it will not be in vain that
I made so many plans to delude myself,
As I made delusions of finding myself,
As I created roads to get lost,
Those mistakes I made just to find myself.