Songs and Styles
The Brass Pack’s repertoire is continually expanding, but this list—by no means exhaustive!—will give you an idea of genres and songs The Brass Pack performs, and some of the artists typically associated with those songs.
Note that song styles and genres are loose and non-exclusive: a song might be both a standard and a jazz tune, or straddle the boundary between standards and rock, or be a Latin tune that was also a Big Band hit, or… well, you get the idea. The listings on this page are intended merely to help those who haven’t heard The Brass Pack yet get an idea of what songs and styles of music we perform.
Hoping for The Brass Pack to perform a particular tune at your event, but you don’t see it listed here? Reach out to us! We’ve got more songs that aren’t listed here—and if we don’t have it, we may be able to write an arrangement of it for the band.
Standards from the “Great American Songbook” • Jazz classics • Big Band era hits • “Horn rock” favorites • Latin music • Dixieland • And also…
Standards from the “Great American Songbook”
The songs that came out of the fertile minds of American songwriters around the early and middle twentieth century are held by many to be among the greatest popular songs ever written. Written for musical theater, movies, or as standalone works, these are the songs that saw—and helped drive—technological innovation in recording and sound, musical innovations like the birth of jazz and the rise of Big Bands, and cultural innovations that made American popular music and culture known around the world.
Associated artists
Generations of performers built entire careers and lasting legacies with these songs. Frank Sinatra was one of the best, and best-known, proponents of these songs, recording and performing hundreds of them to the delight of millions of fans. Other popular stars of the era associated with these songs include Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby—pretty much every popular singer up until the rock era. And in fact, many stars of rock and other genres, such as Linda Ronstadt and Willie Nelson, went on to augment their repertoires with recordings and performances of Great American Standards. These songs were also fundamental to the development and growth of jazz and the popularity of jazz performers such as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
Great American standards in the Brass Pack library
A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody • After You’ve Gone • All Of Me • Angel Eyes • As Time Goes By • Autumn Leaves • Avalon • Broadway • Deep Purple • Don’t Get Around Much Any More • East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) • Fly Me to the Moon • Georgia On My Mind • Girl Talk • Give Me the Simple Life • Here’s That Rainy Day • How High the Moon • It’s All Right With Me • Love Is Just Around the Corner • Lover Man • Mack the Knife • Nice ’n’ Easy • Old Devil Moon • On A Clear Day • On the Sunny Side of the Street • Our Love Is Here To Stay • Someday My Prince Will Come • Stardust • Sunrise, Sunset • Sweet Lorraine • There Will Never Be Another You • They Can’t Take That Away From Me • This Could Be the Start of Something Big • Undecided • What A Wonderful World • You Made Me Love You
Jazz classics
While jazz musicians embrace and make extensive use of tunes from the Great American Songbook, they also enjoy playing and performing songs that are first and foremost jazz tunes. Some of these have found such success that they later migrated into the popular song category, while others remain primarily performed by jazz artists.
Associated artists
Some jazz musicians have gained substantial widespread public recognition, while others have labored in the relative obscurity of popularity (or not) within a rarified niche. The jazz standards you might hear The Brass Pack perform have been written, played, and/or popularized by jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong, Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, JJ Johnson, Kai Winding, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk, among others.
Jazz classics in the Brass Pack library
After You’ve Gone • All Of Me • Autumn Leaves • Avalon • Bernie’s Tune • Blue Birdland • Blue Monk • Caravan • Daahoud • Don’t Get Around Much Any More • How High The Moon • Joy Spring • Midnight Sun • A Night In Tunisia • Nutville • Round Midnight • St Thomas • Stolen Moments • There Will Never Be Another You • Undecided • Yardbird Suite
Big Band era hits
In the 1930s and ’40s, big dance bands—ranging from about 10 to about 20 members, usually right around 15—ruled the pop charts, the airwaves, and the nation’s musical zeitgeist. Playing swing music incorporating varying degrees of jazz (more jazz for a Count Basie or a Duke Ellington than for a Guy Lombardo or a Lawrence Welk), Big Bands were immensely popular with the young dancers of the pre-war era, filling huge ballrooms night after night.
Admittedly, The Brass Pack is not a Big Band, although our members have extensive Big Band experience. But the sonic variety afforded by our “doubles” (additional instruments played by a performer beyond their primary instrument), plus the flexibility and varied experience of our musicians, allows The Brass Pack to perform unique yet convincing versions of Big Band hits.
Associated artists
The Big Band tunes you’ll hear performed by The Brass Pack were originally performed and recorded by bands such as Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Harry James, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, and numerous others.
Big band hits in the Brass Pack library
Blue Birdland • Caravan • Cute • Don’t Get Around Much Any More • Early Autumn • Four Brothers • Here’s That Rainy Day • In the Mood • Intermission Riff • Lil’ Darlin’ • Midnight Sun • Moonlight Serenade • Nice ’n’ Easy • Shiny Stockings • A String of Pearls • You Made Me Love You
“Horn rock” favorites
In the 1960s and ’70s, some rock bands experimented with including horn sections in their lineups, adding jazz- and horn-based elements from the Big Band era to the guitar-based foundations of rock ’n’ roll. More than just using horns to provide accents and backgrounds, these bands used them as integral components of their music, and featured them playing melodies and solos. For bands such as Chicago, these experiments proved to be a winning formula—and one that’s still going strong five decades later.
Mixing jazz horns with rock and other non-jazz rhythm sections was so successful that the concept spread far beyond the original “horn rock” bands and into many areas of popular music. Funk and soul bands added horns to their infectious rhythmic underpinnings; New Orleans jazz marching brass bands started playing rock, funk, and hip-hop. You could even consider Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass an early part of this trend, with its combinination of pop rhythm with jazz horns playing Mariachi style.
The Brass Pack is a perfect fit for performing these styles of music, as both our instrumentation and our musical sensibilities are closely aligned with these bands.
Associated artists
The best-known and most successful of the original horn rock bands is Chicago. Some others include Blood, Sweat & Tears; The Ides of March; Lighthouse; Chase; and Ten Wheel Drive.
Under the expanded definition of “horn bands” discussed above, other examples include Tower of Power; Earth, Wind & Fire; Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass; Bonerama; and the Youngblood Brass Band.
“Horn rock” favorites in the Brass Pack library
25 or 6 to 4 • Bap Bap • Beginnings • Brooklyn • Chameleon • Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? • Get It On • The Lonely Bull • Pick Up the Pieces • Serpentine Fire • Shake Your Rugalator • Soul Vaccination • Spanish Flea • A Taste of Honey • Tijuana Taxi • What Is Hip? • You’re Still A Young Man
Latin music
There’s no single type of Latin music; the term is used as a catch-all for a variety of styles from a number of countries. Bolero, boogaloo, bossa nova, cha-cha, mambo, merengue, rhumba, salsa, samba, tango, and Tejano are just some of the many styles of Latin music. They all have two things in common: their origins can be traced back to Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking countries, and they are popular with musicians and audiences alike.
Because Latin music is so popular, The Brass Pack generally programs several Latin numbers at every performance.
Associated artists
With so many different styles, and such a long history, it’s hard to single anyone out, but we’ll try. How about Antonio Carlos Jobim or Tito Puente?
Latin music in the Brass Pack library
Adios Muchachos • Besame Mucho • Caravan • The Girl From Ipanema • La Paloma • The Lonely Bull • Manana • Nutville • Poinciana • St Thomas • Spanish Flea • A Taste of Honey • Tijuana Taxi
Dixieland
The songs, style, and instrumentation that were popular in the early days of jazz, especially in and around New Orleans, have become known as “trad” or traditional jazz, or Dixieland jazz. Songs in this style are well-suited to The Brass Pack’s instrumentation and talents, and make a distinctive addition to any set list.
Associated artists
A century after its heyday, not too many of the artists who originally performed these tunes are household names anymore, with Louis Armstrong the notable exception. Jazz aficionados will recognize names like Django Reinhardt and Jack Teagarden.
Dixieland tunes in the Brass Pack library
Back in Your Own Back Yard • Basin Street Blues • Bill Bailey • Blizzard Head Blues • Bye Bye Blues • Charley, My Boy • Coney Island Washboard • Copenhagen • Darktown Strutters' Ball • Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans • Fidgety Feet • High Society • I Can’t Give You Anything But Love • I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight • I’m Confessin’ • Indiana • It Don’t Mean A Thing • The Jazz-Me Blues • Just A Closer Walk • Leavin’ Town • Louella • Maple Leaf Rag • Muskrat Ramble • National Emblem • New Orleans Masquerade • Pagan Love Song • Panama • Randolph Street Strut • Sensation • South Rampart Street Parade • Them There Eyes • Wabash Blues • When My Sugar Walks Down the Street • When the Red, Red, Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along • When the Saints Go Marching In • Who’s Sorry Now? • Yes Sir, That’s My Baby
And also…
The above listings should give you a good idea of what you might hear The Brass Pack play. But wait—there’s more! Our versatile musicians, thanks in no small part to our hard-working arrangers, also can provide classical music, fanfares and other ceremonial music, holiday music, and ethnic standards, among others. And of course, don’t forget our original tunes, written by members of The Brass Pack!
Bill Ash sings with The Brass Pack at Mariandale in September 2022, while Jon Leonard plays trumpet behind him. Photo by Karen Fucito