Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.808659

Composed by Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Pop,Traditional. Score and parts. 23 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #2070943. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808659).

Prerecorded wax cylinders were first marketed in 1889. Ten years later, when this Howard and Emerson tune was published, those cylinders were referred to as records, and Arthur Collins made the first recording of Hello! Ma Baby. The lyrics tell the tale of a guy who has a girlfriend he knows only through the telephone. This was one of the first songs to deal with the telephone (that medium, too, being still pretty new). The chorus was kicked back into the spotlight in 1955 when a certain movie frog sang and danced his way across a Warner Brothers cartoon background. The current version used the 1899 sheet music as its source, but is a completely original arrangement that enhances the ragtime feel of the music. This is an infectious piece that is fun to play and a toe-tapper for the audience.

Completed in 2016, this arrangement’s performance time runs about 3 minutes, 20 seconds. Contact the arranger, Les Smith, at lessmith@ufl.edu. If you like this novelty number, be sure to check out Sweetwater's Funeral March of a Marionette, Goodbye! So Long! I'm Headin' Home! Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey, Somebody Stole My Gal and Teddy Bears' Picnic. For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the search box.  (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)