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Jazz Standards


phizz

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So this summer a friend and I are talking about doing some music together. We were talking about some upbeat jazz type of stuff, she will be playing keyboard and I will be playing bass. I was wondering if you guys or gals could give some ideas of some standards that we could do. Neither of us want to sing so it would all be insturmental.

 

This is mostly a chance for us to both to expand as musicians, maybe play a coffee house or two but nothing really serious. Just give us something to do over the summer.

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The Real Book is the gold standard. It's also illegal, being a set of photocopies with no royalty being paid.

 

For a more legal, and nicely typeset, and very authentic experience, try "The New Real Book." Blow through a lot of tunes there.

"Let's raise the level of this conversation" -- Jeremy Cohen, in the Picasso Thread.

 

Still spendin' that political capital far faster than I can earn it...stretched way out on a limb here and looking for a better interest rate.

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All depends of course on how yooz all play, but the range is extremely broad: from Stella By Starlight, Blue Bossa, Day Of Wine and Roses, Cheek to Cheek, Joy Spring, A Child Is Born, Some Day My Prince Will Come, Cherokee, Alone Together, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Desafinado, Corcovado, The Duke, Have You Met Miss Jones, Dolphin Dance, I Thought About You, Isn't It Romantic?, My Romance, Like Someone In Love, I Love You, My Ship, Round Midnight, The Song Is You, Solar, Soul Eyes, The Way You Look Tonight, Green Dolphin Street, Speak Low, You've Changed, Autumn Leaves, Pensativa, The Peacocks (would be great for piano/Bass), Blue'n Green, Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum, . . . I could go on and on and on.

 

Get a bunch of records and a few fake books and have at it. It tune is a little lesson in itself to explore and have fun with.

All the best,

 

Henry Robinett

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Just remember, a lot of chords in some Real Books are wrong. (The second chord of "Take the A Train" is a D9??? Okaaaaay...)

 

The tunes in there are still worth learning...you can iron out the wrinkles by keeping one eye on the keyboard player's left hand (and watching out for his dirty looks! :D ).

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Adding to Henry's strong list, 2 bass-centric standards:

So What

A Night in Tunisia

 

Also:

I Got Rhythm (the mother of all jazz standards), and tunes based on Rhythm changes

as much Ellington as you care to learn

I'll Remember April

All the Things You Are

I Could Write a Book

Maiden Voyage - not necessarily upbeat, but a great modal soloing tune

Spain, and 500 Miles High - both a great for a Rhodes/bass duet

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Originally posted by phizz:

So this summer a friend and I are talking about doing some music together. We were talking about some upbeat jazz type of stuff, she will be playing keyboard and I will be playing bass. I was wondering if you guys or gals could give some ideas of some standards that we could do. Neither of us want to sing so it would all be insturmental.

 

This is mostly a chance for us to both to expand as musicians, maybe play a coffee house or two but nothing really serious. Just give us something to do over the summer.

I think this could be very helpful. According to Carol Kaye this is "common standard for gig" every good musician should know.(Follow the link below).

Common Standard

Do What Thou Whilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law
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For a fakebook with a relatively high proportion of usable tunes & correct chords, I highly recommend "The Ultimate Jazz Fakebook", by Hal Leonard.

The "Just Standards" & "Just Jazz" versions of the Real Book (published by Warner Bros.) also look quite good. The Standards one has a lot of those cool intros that Ella, Tony Bennett, etc. sing, which ordinarly aren't found in fakebooks.

All of these include original lyrics, which IMHO are essential to playing jazz standards properly, even as instrumentals. (Bird, Trane, Joe Pass & many others shared this opinion. For one thing, knowing the words makes it much easier to REMEMBER more melodies!

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