Bill Holman: You Go to My Head

By 1958, Bill Holman was a composing/arranging heavyweight, and the second album of big band music under his own name contains several masterpieces. "You Go to My Head" is an excellent example of re-composition using a short, improvised-sounding riff. A four-note phrase frames a presentation that begins with the melody being broken up and explored by the saxes, while the brass play the riff as underpinningall with minimal rhythmic support. Eventually the whole band takes off, swinging both melody and riff leading up to solos by Charlie Mariano and Stu Williamson. An uneasy transition leads to the leader's solo. The whole thing ends with similar uneasiness, but we have been on quite a journey. That riff may have gone to Holman's head, but by the end it has been thoroughly explored. The setting of the song sounds as if it had been made up on the spot, which is part of Willis's compositional gift. This track is one of his greatest achievements.