Oscar South Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 I want to learn a selection of standards to play at jam nights, I want to pick say 3 or 4 that I can pretty much guarantee that people (players, not necessarily audience) will know but that aren't REALLY obvious and overplayed (such as Autumn Leaves, Summertime and Fly Me To The Moon which I know already anyway), also preferably I'd like to possibly do a ii7-V7-I style one, a Jazz Blues and a Rhythm Changes style piece, for variation and also because I think this will help me more than learning a few similar pieces. Also preferable (but not vital) is that the piece can be sung, as it'll just be handy to add a few more Jazz tunes to my bands repertoire. Not looking for anything too difficult either as I'm still a reletive beginner to playing Jazz (not a total beginner and I've played a few gigs, just not too much experiance). Has anyone got any suggestions? Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Bilbo's dept this isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassjamm Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Take the A Train is a II-V-I i think...or Satin Doll, one or the other, and most people know them! Also, a bit groovier, but Chameleon, or So What...and another nice little one, well known too is Blue Bossa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 Oh yea played Chameleon a bunch of times, we did some cool stuff to it like having piano/bass/guitar repeatedly trade parts and put some vocal ostinatos in there to keep the singers happy. Will check out those other songs, I want to stay away from modal Jazz for now though as I have a bit of trouble walking on only one chord for any length of time, I'm going to work on this with my tutor then go back to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakenewmanbass Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) Get a real book and learn about 1000 (exaggerating slightly) tunes, if you consider that Cole Porter alone wrote 1500 that gives you an idea of the wide range of standards that people play. I've played in trios backing visiting soloists in amongst others Alexanders in your very own Chester including Dick Morrisey, Bobby Wellins, Don Weller, Snake Davis, Jim Mullen and many others, they all do different tunes and sometimes expect you to know them. So learning a load of them is useful in many ways. Edited June 11, 2008 by jakesbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) [quote name='jakesbass' post='216893' date='Jun 11 2008, 02:29 PM']Get a real book and learn about 1000 (exaggerating slightly) tunes, if you consider that Cole Porter alone wrote 1500 that gives you an idea of the wide range of standards that people play. I've played in trios backing visiting soloists in amongst others Alexanders in your very own Chester including Dick Morrisey, Bobby Wellins, Don Weller, Snake Davis, Jim Mullen and many others, they all do different tunes and sometimes expect you to know them. So learning a load of them is useful in many ways.[/quote] Alexanders is a really good venue, played there a bit and hope to do more in the future. Unfortunately I don't have that much time , I'm working on a lot of stuff at the moment so I really only want to stick to a few tunes, I do have the real books though. I'm going to do the 'learning masses of tunes' thing when I'm a bit more experienced at Jazz, probably next summer as I'm playing in my own Jazz band throughout next year which will give me the experiance I need to get me properly on my feet. Edited June 11, 2008 by Oscar South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Bilbo’s Book of Very, Very Common Standards Girl From Ipaneama Stella By Starlight Have You Met Miss Jones? Summertime Softly As In The Morning Sunrise Night And Day There Will Never Be Another You Body & Soul Yesterdays Bilbo’s Small Book Of Easy Wins (tunes that are easy to learn and played far too often) A 12-bar Jazz Blues (in F and Bb) Mercy Mercy Mercy Blue Monk C Jam Blues (Ellington) Doxy Blues For Alice Impressions So What Lush Life Bilbo’s Increasing List Of ‘learn half of these and you’re gigging for life’ Standards Rhythm changes (in Bb at the very least) - usually played like s*** off a stick All The Things You Are All Of Me Canteloupe Island (I refuse to play it but it is usually called at least once at every jam session - really. I hate its half-assed non-funkiness) Watermelon Man (and this one) Desafinado How High The Moon In A MellowTone Just Squeeze Me Manha Da Carnaval Wave Anthropology Ornitology Oleo Moose The Mooche Blue Monk Donna Lee Impressions Alone Together Angel Eyes Beautiful Love Body & Soul Days Of Wine And Roses Fly Me To The Moon A Foggy Day Groovin’ High (Whispering) It’s Only A Paper Moon Just Friends Love For Sale My Funny Valentine My Romance Satin Doll You Don’t Know What Love Is Mercy Mercy Mercy (Zawinul) Giant Steps There are zillions of these things but, broadly speaking, if you can deal with these, most other standards shouldn't pose too many problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakenewmanbass Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 +1 to Bilbos list. I have played every one of those numerous times and some of them hundreds of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 That's a mighty impressive list....noticed the last one is the mother of all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulf Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 [quote name='bilbo230763' post='217427' date='Jun 12 2008, 08:56 AM']Canteloupe Island (I refuse to play it but it is usually called at least once at every jam session - really. I hate its half-assed non-funkiness)[/quote] I know exactly what you mean. The sax player in my jazz band got very suspicious the other day when he heard me say to the keyboard player "... and perhaps we could do Canteloupe early on to get it out of the way"! One for the horn section, I guess. I'm learning to love some repetitive songs (eg. "Song for My Father"... that should probably go on the list) but I could die content without ever playing Canteloupe again. BTW, I think it is invaluable to have a copy of the Real Book to hand. It is far from the be-all and end-all of jazz but a very handy common reference. There is a lot to be said for tune-memorisation and developing the skill of playing by ear but nothing wrong with also having a Real Book available. Wulf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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