Song List ?

[DennisR]

I'm thinking about doing some solo stuff to bring in some extra food money and am needing a good song list. About two hours worth I guess. Solo Piano/Rhodes kinda stuff with and without vocals.

 

Just wondering what you solo folks are doing.

 

Thanks

Dennis

[DennisR]

LOL...

 

OK I'll start.

 

This is my list as of today:

 

WonderFull World - Ray Charles

 

Ney York State of Mind

Italian Restaurant

Billy The Kid - Billy Joel

 

Thunder Road (Acoustic Version) - Bruce Springstein

 

Oh My Love

Imagine

Mind Games - John Lennon

 

Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul Mcartney

 

Martha My Dear

Let It Be

(Many Others to chooe from here)- Beatles

 

Thanks

Dennis

[plummet]

Well,

I do mainly 80's stuff and oddball stuff intermix my influences. I'm also much more of a singer than a player, so I try to use it mainly for accompaniment.

 

Sister Christian - Night Ranger

No One is to Blame- Howard Jones

Love on the Rocks - Neil Diamond

In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins

Here Comes the Rain - Eurythmics

With or Without You-U2

Mandy - Barry Manilow

Wanted Dead or Alive- Bon Jovi

Tiny Dancer - Elton John

Mother-Pink FLoyd

Karma Police-Radiohead

Trouble - Coldplay

I Ran - Flock of Seagulls

Never Tear us Apart - INXS

 

etc.

thanks and good night

etc.

Bill

www.tamedbychaos.com

[David R]

When I was playing solo piano gigs, I was doing quite a few jazz standards mixed with some pop stuff.

 

Eric Clapton - Layla (unplugged style), Signe

Elton John - Come Down In Time, Your Song

Sting - Fragile

Billy Joel - New York State of Mind and many more

Stevie Wonder - All In Love Is Fair

 

David

[marino]

This is not going to be very useful.

 

I've always dreamed to play a cocktail solo piano gig and play something like the following list:

 

Chopin - Nocturne in Eb

Giant Steps

Smoke on the Water

Stockhausen's "Klavierstuck n.4"

Imagine

Honky Tonky Train Blues

Henry Cowell's "The Banshee"

Eruption from Tarkus

Moment's Notice

Bela Bartok's "Allegro Barbaro"

Morton Feldman's "Last Pieces"

Misty

Great Balls of Fire

Colnon Nancarrow's "Tango?"

Mozart's Turkish March

some free improvisation

and ending with "Piano Man"

 

 

Of course, it's been a *long* time from the last time I played a solo piano cocktail gig!

 

However, I guess not everybody would notice what the pianist is doing...

[Dave Horne]

Since most of the jobs I play, either solo or with a trio, use the better melodies from Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael to name just a few, it's worth mentioning that many songs composed by those guys and others from that time period are still being played and will still be played in 100 years.

 

I only mention this because of the obvious void of those composers and those tunes in this thread.

 

Pennies From Heaven, Cheek To Cheek, But Not For Me, Up The Lazy River all have excellent chord changes that will provide a solid basis for improvising and still give the listener (hopefully) a melody they can recognize. Looking at this from a 'jazz' perspective, I prefer to improvise on well known, well constructed tunes that have survived many years rather than play the obscure 'jazz' tune that very few people would recognize.

[gangsu]

Just once , Dave Horne, I'd like to hear you promote your own style without that irksome habit of mildly dimissing everything else.

[Dave Horne]

Originally posted by gangsu:

Just once , Dave Horne, I'd like to hear you promote your own style without that irksome habit of mildly dimissing everything else.

Sorry if you feel that way. For me a standard is a tune that has survived and will be played well into the future.

 

The finest composers of American songs did not start with Billy Joel. I think a lot of people think a standard is Just The Way You Are. When musicians can not name five tunes written by George Gershwin something may not be right with their general knowledge of' standards/.

[gangsu]

Hearing you play Just the Way You Are would be worth the price of admission! What do you think? A new signature tune.

 

I can play Gershwin all night. The point is, there's a wealth of music I don't have a clue about, that I'm discovering while hanging out at this forum. For example, I thought Emo stood for ... I don't think I'll tell you.

 

Nevermind, I'm just having fun. Gotta go.

[resigned]

Welcome to the 21st Century...

 

"Just the Way You Are" is about 30 years old now and is played by most of the pianists I know - just how old does a song have to be to become a "standard"? When I play this song for a 60-year old man, then he was 30 when that song came out and it was likely one of his favorites. Most of the people who were in their 20's or 30's when songs by Carmichael, Porter and Gershwin were popular are dead now or close to it.

 

None the less, I cover songs from the 1920's to today but I do contemporary arrangements of the Carmichael/Porter/Gershwin tunes to give them a little more flair. On top of many of the songs listed by others above (with the exception of classical music) I also do:

 

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (Patti Austin version)

Foolish Heart - Steve Perry

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do - Neil Sedaka (slow)

Angela - Bob James (theme from "Taxi")

Best of My Love - The Eagles

Sweetest Taboo - Sade

Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight - James Taylor

Don't Know Why - Nora Jones

The Fool On The Hill - Beatles

Your Song - Elton John

Kiss From A Rose - Seal

She Walks This Earth - Sting

The Right Thing To Do - Carly Simon

Lady Blue - Leon Russell

On and On - Steven Bishop

Pure Imagination - from "Willie Wonka"

Precious and Few - Climax

Baby I'm A Want You - Bread

Caught Up In The Rapture of Love - Anita Baker

Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix

Wicked Game - Chris Isaac

Sara Smile - Hall & Oates

Just The Two Of Us - Bill Withers

I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys

Evergreen - Barbara Streisand

 

and that's just warming up...

[MikeT156]

Interesting posts about "standards". I remember playing a gig at a club that was primarily for young folks. There as an "older couple" in the crowd that night, sitting at a table and paying a lot closer attention to what I was playing than the young folks there. About the 3rd set, one of the waitresses came up and asked me to play the Anniversary Waltz for the couple sitting down in front. Turns out it was their 50th wedding anniversary and the husband was a musician most of his life. Then I knew why they were actually listening. I had rehearsed the song in the past, took out the music, dedicated the song to them with an announcement, played it and sang it for them. My performance wasn't the best, but the couple was extremely grateful that I was able to play their request and thanked me for the effort.

 

That to me, is a standard. I have a short list of more recent standards, like New York-New York, My Funny Valentine, My Way, I left my heart in SF, Strangers in the night, Unforgetable, and few older ones like-In the Mood, Moonlight Serenate, and a few others that actually got me a well paying New Years Eve gig some years back. The owner told me that he had a "mixed" crowd and because of the variety I could play, he felt I was best suited for the wide mixed age groups he had reservations from for New Years Eve. Many of those songs have fallen by the wayside as the people that knew those songs pass on, but its still good music and nice to have a few of those songs on your song list. Thankfully, not everyone wants to hear "Free Bird".

 

Mike T.

[David R]

Dave,

 

I did mention that I played standards on solo piano gigs (and by standards, I mean Gershwin tunes, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers tunes, "Misty," etc). The thing with standards is that, while each of those composers had tons of repertoire, it's the same handful that get played over and over again. American songwriting didn't start with Billy Joel, I'll grant you that, but it didn't stop with Cole Porter, either. Many "pop" writers worth their salt musically (Joel, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Sting, to name a few) are heavily indebted to their predecessors. A lot of Stevie's changes are an outgrowth of Gershwin compositions.

 

David

[Dave Horne]

Originally posted by gangsu:

Hearing you play Just the Way You Are would be worth the price of admission! What do you think? A new signature tune.

 

I can play Gershwin all night. The point is, there's a wealth of music I don't have a clue about, that I'm discovering while hanging out at this forum. For example, I thought Emo stood for ... I don't think I'll tell you.

 

Nevermind, I'm just having fun. Gotta go.

I've played Just The Way You Are many times (too many times) for the many weddings I played in the US. I would play it basically in the same style in which it was originally written. When I play solo jobs I would reharmonize it and have some fun with it, but to be perfectly honest, I rarely play it anymore. (No one requests it anymore and I've grown tired of it.) The song was popular for about ten years or so and faded (at least for me).

[Dave Horne]

I guess what was in the back of my mind was this, I've known many good to excellent musicians and many of them (even the very best) are not working as much as they could. We'll get together for an evening of playing and they call out nothing but tunes from the Real Book. I think for some guys, you can only play 'jazz' if you play 'jazz tunes'. If they would focus their energy into more, for lack of a better word, standard tunes, they would probably work more and still have fun improvising. I don't know how many musicians I've come across who can play Windows but don't have a clue to the changes to On A Slow Boat To China.

 

When I started out, I was 16 and was playing with guys in their 40's. I was forced to learn The Nearness of You and Pennies From Heaven. As a result, I would then stumble across other tunes written by the same composers and my stock of standards kept growing. I'm still adding tunes to my list.

 

I realize that the Great American Song Book does not end with Gershwin or Richard Rodgers, but I'm afraid a lot of guys are not even aware of the tunes to begin with.

 

(A mildly related case - I played with an excellent bass player recently. He is 21 and plays better than most of the bass players I've worked with. I threw my book in front of him and he played the changes in excellent form. I mentioned that George Shearing played this tune with 'these' changes. He never heard of George Shearing. This kid is studying at a conservatory here in Holland and you'd figure someone at some point would mention George Shearing. I have no idea anymore what common knowledge is, but as long as fewer guys play fewer standards, I figure my share of the market will keep increasing.)

[hermanjoe]

Maybe we should distinguish what is a "standard" and what is a song from the great american songbook that has become a "standard." I feel any tune can become a standard based on it's abilty to withstand the test of time, and also is popularity among musicians and listeners alike.

 

Gershwin, Cole Porter, Kahn/Stein, Rodgers/Hart all wrote songs that are considered part of the great American songbook. Many of them have become standards, and have remained popular with Jazz musicians to this day. Many would say a number of Beatles tunes or Stevie Wonder tunes are also "standards.' Because they are great songs and have also stood the test of time. Many Jazz players often play on them as well.

 

My only point is any tune can become a standard regardless of where it came from in history.

[Jazz+]

By the way, Frank Loesser's "On a Slow Boat To China" is the same chord changes as Jimmy VanHusen's "It Could Happen To You".

 

There are tons of great standards in the "Real Books". You can get 10 of those fake books on a CD now days for very litte money or free, everybody seems to have a copy. I don't consider Beatles, Sting, Wonder, Joel, Elton, Manilow or most of the post 1960 pop/rock compositions to be very good for solo jazz piano gigs. They are sentimental and can sound corny. I think those type of tunes were best when they were sung by the original artists. For example, I love The Beatles and Sting but I feel that most of their songs don't seem to translate very well into instrumentals. Of course some can such as Imagine, Here There And Everywhere, Yesterday, Fragile and others. For my taste most pop rock tunes post 1960 are not on par with much of Gershwin, Porter, Rogers & Hart, Jimmy Van Husen, Johny Mercer, Ellington, and too many others to list. The composers of the pre 1960 era usually tended to crafted there tunes with more interesting chord progressions and melodies.

[hermanjoe]

I love The Beatles and Sting but I feel that most of their songs don't seem to translate very well into instrumentals.

Yeah tell that to Brad Mehldau before he does his next concert...

His version of Paul McCartney's "Blackbird" is great. His newest Trio album also features a Paul Simon tune and a Radiohead tune. Herbie Hancock also has a great album called "The New Standard"' on which he rips on tunes like "New York Minute" and "Norweigan Wood" another beatles classic.

 

Forgive me for being so blunt, but the problem with most Jazz players is your all stuck in this repitiore that you think you have to play or that you think is correct. Look around and be more open to interprations of music outside your repitiore and maybe you might just do something original, but for most they just want to conform to what their version of "jazz" is. To me thats a waste of time. I love standards and the American songbook, but I can't stand when people dismiss new stuff. Herbie didn't, and Brad certainley does not. Those standards that we hold so high are popluar tunes from their era that were found in broadway musicals and on the radio, just like today... Funny, and we jazzers wonder why we are alienated. it's because of our "attitudes."

 

Ok, sorry if I offended anyone, had to get that off my chest.

[MikeT156]

Tom, I think you're correct in the "Attitude" thing by "some" Jazz players. I think the drawback of that attitude is that if only what you play is "good" and everything else sucks, you're limiting yourself and headed for less gigs. If you want to PLAY gigs for people that are willing to hire you, unfortunetly, you have to compromise somewhat. I think its a matter of how much you are willing to compromise. I didn't like "Bubble Gum" music years back, but played the tunes the kids asked for because we wanted to play gigs. We also played things that we liked too.

 

I wouldn't be caught dead doing hip hop, rap, or some of the other stuff that is nothing more than spoken lyric and rythymn. It's not musical and it doesn't interest me. So I guess I have "attitude" too.

 

As musicians we need to be open minded to a certain extent, and forgo what we consider total trash. My parents felt that way about rock 'n roll.

 

There is a place for jazz, even in a small market like where I live. One of the local bar/restaurants here runs a jazz night once a week, some good players come out to sit in. Some musicians that normally don't gig anymore come out of the woodwork. Its a fun night for people that like good jazz.

 

Mike T.

[hermanjoe]

Mike,

 

I think my venting comes from the fact that I meet a lot of Jazzers who look down on other music because it doesn't fit their "jazz norm," or cause miles didn't do that tune. I think that whole attitude runs the idea of moving forward. I think if Herbie Hancock were here he would tell us something very similar. His whole career has been a lot of experimentation and musical uncertainty. Just Like Miles. Imagine if Miles never recorded "Kind of Blue" because the tunes weren't "standards.' And they weren't at the time. I think Jazz would be different or maybe dead, who knows. So my whole point is don't knock other people for trying stuff or pushing different music into the context of Jazz. I am a Jazz Pianist and keyboard player, and I love old school to the newest out shit I can find, but I am trying to be open to stuff, because I think thats what its all about.

[Jazz+]

Good points. I was talking about Beatle tunes mostly. Herbie and Brad do a lot of reworking of those Beatle tunes to come up with their hip versions. They pretty much recast them and I think the result is great. I find for myself that a lot of the comercial pop tunes don't readily lend themsleves to jazz versions without a lot of careful thought and reworking. By the way McCoy Tyner did a nice version of "She's Coming Come" and Chick Corea did an impressive "Elenor Rigby".

 

The older standards tend to readily play themselves right off the page and jazz players play them because they like them, not because they have to. Many jazz players happen to like the cycle of fourths, ii V I type of tunes. Pop tunes tend to avoid those type of progressions.

 

Also, if you are doing a lot of jazz casuals with different players there is often no time for a group to come up with and rehearse hip reworkings of pop tunes. The jazz funk treatment seems to often be easiest soultion to avoid sounding corny or square.