Jazz standard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A jazz standard is a tune that is widely known, performed, and recorded among jazz musicians. Stricter definitions of the term may be used; therefore no 'definitive' list of standards exists.
Since the heart of virtually all forms of jazz is improvisation, a jazz standard is usually a tune that lends itself to reworking or newly creating a melody line by a soloist.
As jazz is actually a range of musical styles, musicians and bands can vary in their standards according to what type of jazz they play. Most professional bands will have repertoires with many more tunes than the standards, but they will usually be sure to include some standards in an evening's performance, and have them ready to play in case of request.
The categories of jazz are not exclusive as to their standards, and any of the songs may be played by bands that specialize in another style. For example, some avant-garde groups may delight in playing an old tune in their modern style, or a Dixieland band may pride themselves on playing a modern tune in a style that gives it a traditional sound.
Many standards were originally written decades ago, and may be from old popular tunes, Broadway or musical selections, or old recordings of famous bands. However, jazz musicians might also include a wide range of more recent tunes in their concept of standards.
It is common for jazz musicians invited to take part in a standards gig to ask the person who's booking the gig or the other musicians involved for particular tunes they have in mind. However, time spent working through a respectable fake book will help in such situations.
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[edit] Dixieland
Dixieland and traditional jazz standards include:
- "After You've Gone"
- "Ain't Misbehavin'"
- "Alexander's Ragtime Band"
- "Amazing Grace"
- "(At the) Darktown Strutters Ball"
- "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home"
- "Ballin' the Jack"
- "Basin Street Blues"
- "Beale Street Blues"
- "Big Bear Stomp"
- "Bill Bailey (Won't You Please Come Home)"
- "Black Bottom Stomp"
- "Blue Horizon"
- "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me"
- "Bugle Call Rag"
- "Careless Love"
- "Chinatown, My Chinatown"
- "Copenhagen"
- "Dallas Blues"
- "Darktown Shuffle"
- "Dead Man Blues"
- "Dirty, Dirty, Dirty"
- "Doctor Jazz"
- "Down by the Riverside"
- "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans"
- "High Society"
- "(Back Home Again In) Indiana"
- "Just a Closer Walk with Thee"
- "Kansas City Stomp"
- "King Porter Stomp"
- "Maple Leaf Rag"
- "Milenberg Joys"
- "Muskrat Ramble"
- "Original Dixieland One-step"
- "Ory's Creole Trombone"
- "Panama" (Original title "Panama, a Characteristic Novelty" from 1912)
- "Savoy Blues"
- "Shreveport Stomps"
- "Some of These Days"
- "South Rampart Street Parade"
- "St. James Infirmary Blues"
- "St. Louis Blues"
- "Sugar Blues"
- "That's A Plenty"
- "Tiger Rag"
- "Tin Roof Blues"
- "'Way Down Yonder in New Orleans"
- "Weary Blues" (often known under the alternative title "Shake It and Break It")
- "When the Saints Go Marching In" (Originally a gospel song. Nicknamed "The Monster" by some musicians, as it seems to be the only tune many people knew to request when seeing a Dixieland band, and some musicians dread being asked to play it several times a night. At Preservation Hall, a sign on the bandstand reads "Traditional Request—$2.00, Others $5.00, 'The Saints' $10.00")
- "Wild Man Blues"
- "Willie the Weeper"
- "Wolverine Blues"
[edit] Swing
Swing band standards include:
- "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine"
- "Caravan"
- "Crazy Rhythm"
- "Heart and Soul"
- "Hong Kong Blues"
- "Indian Love Call"
- "In the Mood"
- "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
- "Minnie the Moocher"
- "Moon Over Miami"
- "The Music Goes 'Round and 'Round"
- "One Dozen Roses"
- "One O'Clock Jump"
- "Sing, Sing, Sing"
- "Stardust"
- "Take the A Train"
- "Woodchopper's Ball"
[edit] Bebop
Bebop standards include:
- "Anthropology"
- "Bags' Groove"
- "Billie's Bounce"
- "Blue Monk"
- "Cherokee"
- "Con Alma"
- "Donna Lee"
- "Doxy"
- "Giant Steps"
- "Milestones"
- "A Night in Tunisia"
- "Now's The Time"
- "Oleo"
- "Ornithology"
- "'Round Midnight"
- "Salt Peanuts"
- "Scrapple From The Apple"
- "Thriving From a Riff"
- "Hot House"
- "Well You Needn't"
[edit] Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova standards include:
- "Águas de Março" ("Waters of March")
- "Manhã De Carnaval" from the film Black Orpheus
- "Blue Bossa"
- "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)"
- "Desafinado" (Slightly Out of Tune)
- "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema")
- "How Insensitive (Insensatez)"
- "Meditation (Meditação)"
- "Wave"
[edit] Mainstream
"Mainstream" jazz standards include:
- "All of Me"
- "All The Things You Are"
- "Alone Together"
- "Angel Eyes"
- "Autumn Leaves"
- "Beautiful Love"
- "Body and Soul"
- "But Beautiful"
- "Days of Wine and Roses"
- "Fly Me to the Moon"
- "A Foggy Day"
- "Four Brothers"
- "Groovin' High"
- "Have You Met Miss Jones?"
- "I Got Rhythm"
- "I Remember Clifford"
- "Impressions"
- "Inner Urge"
- "It Might As Well Be Spring"
- "Juju"
- "Just Friends"
- "Linus and Lucy"
- "Love for Sale"
- "Misty"
- "Misty Blue"
- "My Favorite Things"
- "My Funny Valentine"
- "My Romance"
- "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
- "Night and Day"
- "Satin Doll"
- "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise"
- "Speak No Evil"
- "Stella By Starlight"
- "Summertime"
- "Take Five"
- "That's All"
- "There Will Never Be Another You"
- "There Is No Greater Love"
- "Tenderly"
- "Yardbird Suite"
- "Yesterdays"
- "You Don't Know What Love Is"
[edit] Latin/Funk
- "Little Sunflower"
- "RecordaMe"
- "Song for My Father"
- "The Chicken"
- "Oye Como Va"
[edit] Modal/Fusion/Postbop
- "So What"
- "All Blues"
- "Footprints"
- "Cantaloupe Island"
- "Chameleon"
- "Watermelon Man"
- "Birdland"
- "Red Clay"
[edit] See also
- Category:Jazz standards - a structural list
- Blues standard
- Pop standards
[edit] External links
- Jazzstandards.com - catalogue of over 1000 standards, ranked by the number of jazz artists who have recorded each one; also historical and biographical information
- www.JazzPla.net - includes almost 3000 standards, with scanned partitures of songs (harmony and theme) of pre- and post-war jazz