What a bear to arrange… However, I did have a lot of fun and learn a lot.
The A section is basically a blues turnaround in Cm. However, the V is voiced G+, and the IV is voiced as F+ in second inversion (which is essentially A+). This makes it sound like the chord progression moves up, but it secretly is still respecting the “blues turnaround rules,” which completely surprised me.
I essentially treated the brass band like a big band, and made the saxhorns (Flugelhorn, Tenor Horns, and Baritone Horns) an “extended saxophone” section. I think this mostly works, but the tricky part, and a problem I think this arrangement has is that it’s “top-heavy”. There’s a lot of solo cornets, and they’re all in the stratosphere. I tried to do some divisi to take some of that energy down, but I think that’s just how the song is.
I’m also pretty sure an E♭ cornet player would bust a gut playing this one…