"Jazz standards"

Dorsetmike

Member
What are your favourite standards?

What makes a standard? (Can this really be defined?)

Which is the most recorded standard that you know of?

One of my favourites is "What's New", I've so far tracked down 16 recordings on Last FM ranging from (probably the first version I recall hearing), Stan Kenton featuring Maynard Ferguson, through Mel Powell, Milt Jackson, Wes Montgomery to McCoy Tyner.

Avalon is another favourite of mine, I've yet to trawl through Last.FM for versions of that.
 

intet_at_tabe

Rear Admiral Appassionata (Ret.)
What are your favourite standards?

What makes a standard? (Can this really be defined?)

Which is the most recorded standard that you know of?)

Well Dorsetmike

You raise a good question on standards in jazz. I can´t give you a precise answear to your question, because I am not the God of jazz.

However, I will state that a jazz standard is a tune/song that more people thruoghout the world - musician wise - enjoy playing, for the simple matter that it sounds familiar and it feels great and good to play.

One of my own particular jazz standards is the tune/song - The Song Is You, by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, which the Standards Trio performed in such overwhelmingly act on the album "Still Live", from the ECM Records 1988.

Of course as you already know The Standards Trio was and is Keith Jarrett (piano) Gary Peacock (double bass) and Brother Jack DeJohnette (drums).

This tune/song has been performed by vocalists like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett as well, equally great with a trio, a quartet or a Big Band.

Take for instance the Antonio Carlos Jobim tune/song - The Girl From Ipanema, which has been recorded throughout the past 30 years by hundreds of jazz musicians - Truely a jazz standard, though it was composed by a Brasialian composer and poet.

My best to you Dorsetmike - which could be translated into Mike from Dorset, England.
 
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Dorsetmike

Member
Well Intet, I've had a quick look at Kieth Jarrett and co and added a few of their albums to my Last.fm library, I will pass verdict when they've had a bit of time to influence me.
 

intet_at_tabe

Rear Admiral Appassionata (Ret.)
Well Intet, I've had a quick look at Kieth Jarrett and co and added a few of their albums to my Last.fm library, I will pass verdict when they've had a bit of time to influence me.

Well Mike, I will wait excitedly however as always patiently for your suitable verdict!!
 

Vintage

New member
My favourites are probably 'Lazy River', 'All of Me', and 'Anything Goes'. Pretty hard to choose though!

I also like Avalon! I have a recording that I will upload for you once I have reached 10 posts. At the moment I have exceeded the maximum attachment allowance, and for some reason I can't get into my posts to remove old attachments.

Sorry I can't help with the other questions.


M
 

John Watt

Member
Jazz standards! Yeah, what a dangerous subject. You can cause heart attacks
and get pacemakers defibulating with this topic.
The songs I played that I thought were jazzy always created a controversy with someone.
I still think if I'm jamming it out and riffing away with my Coltrane to Hendrix influences,
it's jazz, for me.
When I visited the big band jazzers who rehearsed once a week at the local high school,
they'd ask me to sing a song or two, and that was jazz for me too.

The one "jazz standard" I've heard played and jammed out at matinees, by far,
is "Summertime", by George and Ira Gershwin.
Even though Moe Kaufmann was local, for a while,
and the brother of my keyboardist friend bought his flute when he upgraded,
the one he recorded "Swinging Shepherd Blues" on,
I've never heard anyone jamming that one.

The one thing I noticed right away about jazz was how international it is.
So my local opinion about standards is just local.
And as far as people singing from their hearts, or at least by memory,
as a descendant of Scottish Highlanders it is very gratifying, and reassuring,
to hear "Auld Lang Syne" and "Amazing Grace" being sung around the world.
For my family, as a Canadian, not clan, "Amazing Grace" is only funereal.
I get tears by the second verse every time I sing or hear this music.
That's okay, the price I pay.
as always, John Watt
 

OLDUDE

New member
My favourite Louis track is "I've got the right to sing the blues"
I dont know if it qualifies as a standard but I've heard it by quite a few others.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
I think to become standard means it is so very popular and is in every ones repertoire and just does not fade away, that’s my view anyway.
Some of which I concider standards:

Lady be good, Birdland, Bags groove, Bei mir bist du schone, It don’t mean a thing,
Softly as in a morning sunrise, Sweet Sue, Willow weep for me, All the things you are, Tea for two, Small Hotel, S’Wonderful, Autumn Leaves, Perdido, Summer time, Lover, I could go on and on I love em all.
Not to mention: Moma don’t alow, The Saints go marching in, St James infirmary, Sweet Georgia Brown etc.
 

OLDUDE

New member
Hi Mike'
The intrinsic nature of a standard is that it is an attractive and popular piece of music, and therein lies a problem.
Those purchasing a CD may unconsciously check tracklists for recognisable material
and finish up with a somewhat repetitious musical library.
Of course many may say ,why not?
Having just, (once again), enjoyed my copy of "Gold" by Ella which has 39 tracks. all undoubtedly standards, perhaps I should keep quiet on this matter.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
The intrinsic nature of a standard is that it is an attractive and popular piece of music, and therein lies a problem.
Those purchasing a CD may unconsciously check tracklists for recognisable material
and finish up with a somewhat repetitious musical library.
Of course many may say ,why not?

Well in a way I must fall into that category as my main likes are
definitely from the 1950 jazz scene which comprised mainly of standards (because they were fantastic tunes mostly from Broadway Musicals) from the 30s & 40s plus a smattering of tunes composed by the Musicians around at the time. In the classical genre I must have 8 - 10 different sets of Beethoven’s late St Qts, just as a side comment: I did hear some of this “Free Style Jazz” about a month ago and to me it sounded absolutely terrible, a complete, unrelated mess.
 

Dorsetmike

Member
I agree with you there, but then it's the same in most of "the arts", in classical music you have the likes of Gorecki, Einaudi and other providers of tuneless or atonal output, in other forms there have been some to my mind insults to the intellect like a stack of bricks and other mundane and/or shapeless works, meaningless daubs of colour, I wonder what next?

A few of the media rave about it and the sheep follow.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
yes it may be technically very clever but if it sounds awful then the majority will leave it alone,
 

OLDUDE

New member
Undoubtedly the classical jenre has its version of standards, some of which appear on Classic FM regularly. My own relatively small collection of classical music is more likely to contain CDs such as "The Essential Mozart" or "Classics for the Millions" than
an hour of a string Quartet.
Fortunately I can share such pleasures with my wife which cannot be said for my jazz.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
Does this EP bring back any memories, vintage 1952 approx, I stumbled across it last night and put it on the turn table sounded just about as good as it ever had despite the cover condition, he was, I think the first to have a rhythm section without a Piano.

001fullsize.jpg
 

Dorsetmike

Member
Quite a lot of Mulligan tracks on last.fm. From that EP I remember 3 of the track, Bernies tune, Wlkin' shoes and Lullaby of the leaves, vintage Mulligan.
 
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