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Jazz Stock Arrangements: A Resource Guide

A rich selection of published orchestrations for instrumental ensembles, known as “stock arrangements,” are available for research in the Library of Congress Music Division. This guide provides short topical bibliographies for those materials.

Introduction

William P. Gottlieb, photographer. [Portrait of Duke Ellington, Junior Raglin, Juan Tizol, Barney Bigard, Ben Webster, Harry Carney, Rex William Stewart, and Sonny Greer, Howard Theater(?), Washington, D.C.]. 1938. Library of Congress Music Division.

"Stock arrangements" are published orchestrations for instrumental ensembles—bands, small orchestras, or combos—that enable them to perform popular songs or piano works that previously either had been unpublished in any form, or published only as piano or piano-vocal works.

The sections of this guide, linked from the left navigation menu, contain short bibliographies of "stock arrangements" found in the general collections of the Music Division at the Library of Congress and accessed in the Performing Arts Reading Room. More information on "Using the Library of Congress" is found in the last section of this guide.

These materials referenced here are not digitized, as many are still protected by copyright; however, the lists serve as a guide to the vast collection of published jazz material held at the Library of Congress.