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I've played your arrangement once, and it worked great.
I handed a slapstick to the choir director.

There are these people who believe that the Star-Spangled Banner should feature a certain rhythmic phrasing and a certain set of chords (those to which they grew accustomed to hearing when in the military, typically). My college band director was a fabulous jazz pianist and I've mentioned before that he was the pianist on the first Matteson Phillips album (ie. He was good enough to attract the attention of Rich, whereby Rich could have asked just about anyone). My band director stole the Stan Kenton (Bob Curnow) arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner, and our marching band played it (because we actually had some young - basically professional - scream players that he sort of hired via scholarships, private dorm rooms, meal tickets, and walking around money, for our A jazz band, who he also required to be in the marching band and who could play those parts). Well, it pissed off some people in the stands who wrote into the newspaper. He had the University copy the worst one of those letters, blow it up huge, and he had it hanging in the band room. In front of the band - in regards to those letters to the editor - he said "f*** 'em".

I think you can do whatever you like with Sleigh Ride, but I've sort of had enough of the cutesie pie brass quintet Christmas arrangements (I tend to view them to be about as cute as a tuba player playing the piccolo part to Stars and Stripes is funny... so not cute, and not funny), and am reminded of the story about the young rooster who was taking over for the retiring rooster... whereby he decided to be original and would do bebop rooster calls in the mornings...but no one woke up and the farm became dysfunctional. After the third day of that, the retiring rooster told the new rooster that he needed to show him something, whereby the retiring rooster got up on the fence and crowed "cock-a-doodle-doo*, everyone woke up, did their chores, and everything turned out great that day... the punch line being "If you want to get them up, you have to play the standards".

As many times as I've played Sleigh Ride (and if I explained to everyone what I did every year at one particular Christmas concert, everyone would understand that I've likely played it more times than anyone else reading this), I believe it's best left as it was composed, and only transcribed rather than arranged.

I think your transcription is great, and I already said so at the beginning.

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Just a comment: I would have a ball playing this!
(but then I like playing holiday music in minor keys, too)

I was hoping for a 7/8 horse whinny!

(I guess 7/8 of a horse whinny would be a pony whinny?)

Sounds great. Would require some strong players with good rhythm but I'd love to give it a whirl.

Speaking as a rank amateur, I think it sounds great. I've gotten tired of a lot of the standard arrangements, and this would be a blast to hear or play.

I play quite a few gigs with this guy.

This may not seem related, but - well - it's completely about playing Sleigh Ride, playing it the best it can be played, and not messing with it.

Stuff that is "sorta" funny to musicians (maybe?) isn't funny to the paying patrons and/or they don't get it (and I completely understand them "not getting it").

cutsie (typically: early) Canadian Brass arrangements...around here: We tent to circle/X-out those passages (ie. "WTF is that?")

I don't know how good of an analogy "cutsie arrangements" relates to "wearing a horse mask while playing the horse whinny", but (at least, to me) it's analogous...so I'm cutting into his "how to best play the horse whinny, and why it's important" video right at that point:

The entire video is quite humorous (yet forthright), but here's the spot I chose to cut in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... DIsMjg2NjY

The Star Spangled Banner, Up On a Housetop, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, are SONGS.
Sleigh Ride is a composition, which was also arranged by the composer (even with a short little "jazzy" phrase that the composer himself already stuck in there).
Again, Wade's transcription rates 5 stars, but I sorta believe that songs are to arrange (whether or not I personally care for the way that someone arranged any of them) and composer-arranged song-compositions are (mostly) to either play as composed or to transcribe as composed...but that's me.

Unless it's a Christmas party for a weekly BINGO club at the community center...

...here's an example of a SONG which DESPERATELY cries out for a (sure: rhythmic/gimmicky) ARRANGEMENT.

...and here's an example of that from half a century ago:

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Congratulations! This stuff is fantastic!

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The old rooster said to the new young rooster that he would give up his spot as the top rooster if the young would beat him in a race around the barnyard. The youngster agreed. The old one asked for a head start. The cocky young one agreed. And so in the excitement of the race, the hens started squawking and clucking, raising a great din. The farmer on hearing this came running out and blows the young rooster away. On picking up the now dead young rooster, he was heard saying "Damn, the third Gay rooster this week!"

CCC

I only listen to about the first third of it, Wade, and I'll listen to the rest of it later, but actually it sounds pretty clever.

I could hear that fleshed out for a big band actually,

I love it, late to the game with the comment. I dont think there is a local quintet good enough to do it justice, though.

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I am just a hack, but i like the new ending much better.

CCC

I think the whinney needs to go back in. For the audience.

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