Jazz, like the blues, and other forms of music influenced by Negro culture, perceive the question of what is original and what is not in a peculiar way. For example, in this environment it is not considered shameful to perform works that have already been played many times by others and have been heard for a long time. for long years and sometimes decades.
Music that knows its history
In other genres of music, such borrowing of songs sometimes seems unacceptable, because, unlike jazz, it is believed that a performer or a group of musicians must have their own unique repertoire, thanks to which this group will be recognizable and loved by the people.
This is the case, for example, in rock or pop music. But everything related to Negro culture deserves separate consideration. There are completely different rules here. In this culture, traditions that have developed over several generations and their continuity are very strong.
Musicians are proud that their work has not only become popular, but has been appreciated by thousands or even millions of listeners around the world. No, they also want to show that their music has a rich pedigree. Jazzmen seem to tell the listener that they are students of the great and their music has deep roots that go back to the works of Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie or Charlie Parker.
Therefore, such instrumentalists and singers do not disdain the performance of those compositions on which they grew up and which they consider their own. teaching aids in the world of music.
How to recognize the standard?
Works that have stood the test of time and are no longer performed by the first generation of jazz musicians are called standards. This definition means that this particular composition can be called a classic of the genre.
Another name for jazz standards is "evergreen", that is, "evergreen", "immortal", "imperishable".
How to recognize if a given composition is standards or not? The answer to this question is subjective. Each musician can name a couple of compositions that he considers an example of true jazz art. But there are also objective indicators in this regard. For example, there are various ratings that are published by some jazz and just music magazines, which are called, for example, like this: "The 100 Best Jazz Standards of All Time".
You can also judge belonging piece of music to this class by estimating the number of executions. If a composition has been replayed dozens and hundreds of times, and if a jazz song has been re-recorded for 30-40 years after the first release on the disc, then it can be safely considered a standard.
Interaction of cultures
The content of this category and the attitude of musicians towards it has changed over time, and in each era it was different. So, in the thirties and forties of the last century, only works that were written mainly by composers from the jazz environment were called standards. For example, an indisputable example of such a composition that has outlived its era and is modern and today has become an aria from the opera "Porgy and Bess" by George Gershwin. Although this composer was not a representative of the black race, his music was accepted immediately and unconditionally even by jazz luminaries, black musicians.
Later, in the forties and fifties, many jazz songs and instrumental compositions that were based not only on Negro culture, but also on melodies and rhythms characteristic of Latin American countries or the East. Among such compositions are, for example, "Caravan" by Duke Ellington or "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck.
Jazz today
In the 1960s, jazz musicians stepped far beyond their genre, mainly under the influence of the Liverpool Four Beatles. The songs of the famous Englishmen began to be repeatedly performed by jazzmen, including such famous ones as Ray Charles. He performed such Lennon and McCartney songs as "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby" and many others, making them jazz standards for vocalists.
And therefore, we can say that in comparison with the era of the origin of the genre, today this category has expanded significantly. And now the songs of such world-famous performers as George Benson, Bob James or Chick Corea can be called modern jazz standards.
20 legendary blues songs
01.Canned Heat - On The Road Again
Canned Heat blues enthusiasts and collectors have revived a vast array of forgotten blues classics from the 1920s and 30s. The group had its greatest popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Well, their most famous song was On The Road Again.
02. Muddy Waters - Hoochie Coochie Man
The mysterious expression "hoochie coochie man" is known to everyone who loves the blues even a little, because this is the name of the song, which is considered a classic of the genre. "Hoochie coochie" was called sexy female dance, which captivated the public during the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. But the expression "hoochie coochie man" came into use only after 1954, when Muddy Waters recorded a song by Willie Dixon, which instantly became popular.
03 John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom
Boom Boom was released as a single in 1961. By then, Lee Hooker had been playing Apex Bar in Detroit for quite some time and was consistently late for work. When he showed up, the bartender Willa would say, "Boom-boom, you're late again." And so every evening. One day, Lee Hooker thought that this "boom-boom" could make a good song. And so it happened.
04.Nina Simone - I Put A Spell On You
Screaming songwriter Jay Hawkins originally intended to record I Put A Spell On You in the style of a blues love ballad. However, according to Hawkins, “The producer got the whole band drunk, and we recorded this fantastic version. I don't even remember the recording process. Before that, I was a regular blues singer, Jay Hawkins. Then I realized that I could make more devastating songs and scream myself to death.”
In this compilation we have included the most sensual version of this song performed by the gorgeous Nina Simone.
05.Elmore James - Dust My Broom
Written by Robert Johnson, Dust My Broom became a blues standard after it was performed by Elmore James. Subsequently, it was covered more than once by other performers, but, in our opinion, best version You can call it the version of Elmore James.
06.Howlin Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin"
One more blues standard. Wolfe's howl is able to make you empathize with the author, even if you do not understand the language in which he sings. Incredible.
07.Eric Clapton - Layla
Eric Clapton dedicated this song to Patti Boyd - the wife of George Harrison ( The Beatles), with whom they secretly met. Layla is an incredibly romantic and touching song about a man who is hopelessly in love with a woman who also loves him, but remains inaccessible.
08.b. B. King - Three O "Clock Blues
It was this song that made Riley B King famous from the cotton plantations. This is a common story in the spirit: “I woke up early. Where did my woman go? True classic performed by the king of the blues.
09.Oscar Benton-Bensonhurst Blues
And here there is nothing to say, a wonderful composition performed by no less than a wonderful musician, you cannot pass by!
10.Buddy Guy & Junior Wells - Messin" With The Kid
A blues standard performed by Junior Wells and virtuoso guitarist Buddy Guy. Under this 12-bar blues, it is simply impossible to sit still.
11. Janis Joplin - Kozmic Blues
As Eric Clapton said, "The blues is the song of a man who doesn't have a woman or who has lost a woman." In the case of Janis Joplin, the blues turned into a real frantic soulful striptease of a hopelessly in love woman. The blues in her performance is not just a song with repetitive vocal parts. These are constantly changing emotional experiences, when plaintive pleas move from quiet sobs to a hoarse, desperate cry.
12. Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog
Thornton was considered one of the coolest performers of her time. Although Big Mama became famous for only one hit, Hound Dog, in 1953 he remained at the top of the Billboard rhythm and blues lists for 7 weeks and sold a total of almost two million copies.
13.Robert Johnson - Crossroad Blues
For a long time, Johnson tried to master the blues guitar in order to perform with his comrades. However, this art was given to him extremely hard. For some time he parted with friends and disappeared, and when he appeared in 1931, the level of his skill increased many times over. On this occasion, Johnson told the bike that there was some kind of magical crossroads where he made a deal with the devil in exchange for the ability to play the blues. Maybe the damn cool song Crossroad Blues is about this intersection?
14 Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues
The most famous song in Russia by Gary Moore. According to the musician himself, at the studio it was recorded from the first time from beginning to end. And we can safely say that even those who do not understand the blues at all know it.
15. Tom Waits - Blue Valentine
Waits has an idiosyncratic husky voice, described by critic Daniel Duchholz as: "It's like it's been soaked in a bourbon barrel, it's like it's been left in a smokehouse for a few months, and then when it's taken out, it's been driven over." His lyrical songs are stories, most often told in the first person, with grotesque images of seedy places and shabby characters. An example of such a song is Blue Valentine.
16. Steve Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Another blues standard. The 12-bar blues performed by a virtuoso guitarist touches to the core and makes you goosebumps.
17. Ruth Brown - I Don't Know
A song from the wonderful film "Tariff on Moonlight". She plays at the very moment when main character, nervous before the meeting, lights candles and pours wine into glasses. The penetrating voice of Ruth Brown is simply mesmerizing.
18. Harpo Slim - I'm A King Bee
A song with simple lyrics, written in best traditions blues, helped Slim become famous in an instant. The song has been covered many times various musicians, but no one did it better than Slim. After the Rolling Stones covered this song, Mick Jagger himself said: "What's the point of listening to I'm A King Bee performed by us when Harpo Slim performs it best?"
19. Willie Dixon - Back Door Man
In the American South, "back door man" referred to a person who meets a married woman and leaves through the back door before the husband returns home. It is about such a guy that the song of the magnificent Willy Dixon Back Door Man, which has become a classic of the Chicago blues.
20. Little Walter - My Baby
Thanks to his revolutionary harmonica playing technique, Little Walter is on a par with blues masters such as Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix. He is considered the player who set the standard for blues harmonica playing. Written for Walter by Willie Dixon, My Baby is the best showcase of his great playing and style.
10 Ka Blues (1920 - 1960) from website
*** 1920-1940 ********************************************************
1. Dark Was the Night, and Cold Was the Ground (Blind Willie Johnson)
Hamen Eggs (Scrambled eggs with ham) - A song about a sledgehammer, under which inmates in Tennessee crumble a stone.
Biography:
3. Devil Got My Woman(Skip James)
- 1930-1931
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Devil Got My Woman - Written by country bluesman Skip James, the song is about some kind of romantic entanglement. James opens the song with "I'd rather be the devil just to be this woman's man" and closes the first stanza with "it was none other than the devil himself who changed my lover's mind" before blaming the dark forces for her lover's infidelity. It becomes so that the hero of the song is not innocent, because: "stole from best friend the woman he loved,” adding at the end, “but once again the lucky man managed to steal her back.” Despite the fact that the song is presented in James’s typical style of some lamentation in high tones with guitar accompaniment, nevertheless, the piece feels unusual for repertoire of bluesmen, irony.
Biography: Skip James
4. Cross Road Blues (Robert Johnson)
Cross Road Blues |
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"Cross Road Blues" - The myth behind Robert Johnson's incredible talent is of course that he sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads of roads #61 and #49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in exchange for power guitar playing techniques. Johnson's rather bizarre "Crossroads Blues" has nothing to do with a deal with the devil, however, as the song's lyrics clearly show the author's obsession with getting home after dark. 1930s Despite this, he retained the myth of a midnight dark meeting at a crossroads.
Biography:
5. Shake Em On Down (Bukka White)
Shake 'em on down |
"Smokestack Lightning" - A classic of world blues, recorded for the first time back in 1956 by Howlin "Wolf", one of the founders of the Chicago school of blues. The blues "Smokestack Lightning" was covered more than once by numerous other performers. At one time, a cover of this song performed by the Grateful Dead, The Who, Manfred Mann, Aerosmith and many other bands and musicians.
Biography:
8. All Your Love (I Miss Loving) - (Otis Rush)
All Your Love (I Miss Loving) |
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All Your Love (I Miss Loving) is a world blues classic recorded in 1958 by Chicago bluesman Otis Rush. A huge number of musicians have included All Your Love in their repertoire, including: Stephen Ray Vaughan, etc. Otis Rush was a founding member of the Chicago West Side blues scene.
Biography:
9 You Got To Move (Mississippi Fred McDowell)
"You Got To Move" is a song by Fred McDowell. He collaborated with a number of young rock musicians: he gave private slide guitar lessons to Bonnie Wright, and was reportedly flattered to hear a rather similar version of his "You Gotta Move" from the Rolling Stones' 1971 album Sticky Fingers.
The blues is when good man poorly.
Rejection and loneliness, crying and longing, the bitterness of life, seasoned with a burning passion, from which the heart is worried - this is the blues. It's not just music, it's real, true magic.
Filled with good sadness Bright Side collected two dozen legendary blues compositions that have stood the test of time. Naturally, we could not cover the entire vast layer of this divine music, so we traditionally suggest sharing in the comments those compositions that do not leave you indifferent.
Canned Heat - On The Road Again
Canned Heat blues enthusiasts and collectors have revived countless forgotten blues classics from the 1920s and 30s. The group had its greatest popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Well, their most famous song was On The Road Again.
Muddy Waters - Hoochie Coochie Man
The mysterious expression "hoochie coochie man" is known to everyone who loves the blues even a little, because this is the name of the song, which is considered a classic of the genre. "Hoochie coochie" was the name of a sexy female dance that captivated the public during the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. But the expression "hoochie coochie man" came into use only after 1954, when Muddy Waters recorded a song by Willie Dixon, which instantly became popular.
John Lee Hooker
Boom Boom was released as a single in 1961. By then, Lee Hooker had been playing Apex Bar in Detroit for quite some time and was consistently late for work. When he showed up, the bartender Willa would say, "Boom-boom, you're late again." And so every evening. One day, Lee Hooker thought that this "boom-boom" could make a good song. And so it happened.
Nina Simone
Screaming songwriter Jay Hawkins originally intended to record I Put A Spell On You in the style of a blues love ballad. However, according to Hawkins, “The producer got the whole band drunk, and we recorded this fantastic version. I don't even remember the recording process. Before that, I was a regular blues singer, Jay Hawkins. Then I realized that I could make more devastating songs and scream myself to death.”
In this compilation we have included the most sensual version of this song performed by the gorgeous Nina Simone.
Elmore James
Written by Robert Johnson, Dust My Broom became a blues standard after it was performed by Elmore James. Subsequently, it was covered more than once by other performers, but, in our opinion, the version of Elmore James can be called the best version.
Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin'
Another blues standard. Wolfe's howl is able to make you empathize with the author, even if you do not understand the language in which he sings. Incredible.
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton dedicated this song to Patti Boyd - wife George Harrison (The Beatles), with whom they secretly met. Layla is an incredibly romantic and touching song about a man who is hopelessly in love with a woman who also loves him but remains inaccessible.
B. B. King - Three O'Clock Blues
It was this song that made Riley B King famous from the cotton plantations. This is a common story in the spirit: “I woke up early. Where did my woman go? A true classic performed by the king of the blues.
Buddy Guy & Junior Wells - Messin' With The Kid
A blues standard performed by Junior Wells and virtuoso guitarist Buddy Guy. Under this 12-bar blues, it is simply impossible to sit still.
Janis Joplin - Kozmic Blues
As Eric Clapton said, "The blues is the song of a man who doesn't have a woman or who has lost a woman." In the case of Janis Joplin, the blues turned into a real frantic soulful striptease of a hopelessly in love woman. The blues in her performance is not just a song with repetitive vocal parts. These are constantly changing emotional experiences, when plaintive pleas move from quiet sobs to a hoarse, desperate cry.
Big Mama Thornton
Thornton was considered one of the coolest performers of her time. Although Big Mama became famous for only one hit, Hound Dog, in 1953 he remained at the top of the Billboard rhythm and blues lists for 7 weeks and sold a total of almost two million copies.
Robert Johnson
For a long time, Johnson tried to master the blues guitar in order to perform with his comrades. However, this art was given to him extremely hard. For some time he parted with friends and disappeared, and when he appeared in 1931, the level of his skill increased many times over. On this occasion, Johnson told the bike that there was some kind of magical crossroads where he made a deal with the devil in exchange for the ability to play the blues. Maybe the damn cool song Crossroad Blues is about this intersection?
Gary Moore
The most famous song in Russia by Gary Moore. According to the musician himself, at the studio it was recorded from the first time from beginning to end. And we can safely say that even those who do not understand the blues at all know it.
Tom Waits
Waits has an idiosyncratic husky voice, described by critic Daniel Duchholz as: "It's like it's been soaked in a bourbon barrel, it's like it's been left in a smokehouse for a few months, and then when it's taken out, it's been driven over." His lyrical songs are stories, most often told in the first person, with grotesque images of seedy places and shabby characters. An example of such a song is Blue Valentine.
Steve Ray Vaughan
Another blues standard. The 12-bar blues performed by a virtuoso guitarist touches to the core and makes you goosebumps.
Ruth Brown
A song from the wonderful film "Tariff on Moonlight". She plays at the very moment when the main character, nervous before the meeting, lights candles and pours wine into glasses. The penetrating voice of Ruth Brown is simply mesmerizing.
Harpo Slim- I'm A King Bee
A song with uncomplicated lyrics, written in the best traditions of the blues, helped Slim become famous in an instant. The song was covered many times by different musicians, but no one did it better than Slim. After the Rolling Stones covered this song, Mick Jagger himself said: "What's the point of listening to I'm A King Bee performed by us when Harpo Slim sings it best?"
Willie Dixon
In the American South, "back door man" referred to a person who meets a married woman and leaves through the back door before the husband returns home. It is about such a guy that the song of the magnificent Willy Dixon Back Door Man, which has become a classic of the Chicago blues.
Little Walter
Thanks to his revolutionary harmonica playing technique, Little Walter is on a par with blues masters such as Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix. He is considered the player who set the standard for blues harmonica playing. Written for Walter by Willie Dixon, My Baby is the best showcase of his great playing and style.
FROM there are hundreds, thousands of jazz standards - which it is desirable to know. Although many are looking for 100 jazz standards for saxophone, I will give only the 50 most popular according to the expert opinion of our American colleagues.
E If you plan to play jazz, you will need to learn a minimum set of songs that you can play anywhere, anytime, without laughing. This is one of the fundamental qualities of a jazzman.
H I often get questions from beginner musicians, what standards should I learn? I note that this applies not only to the saxophone, but to all instruments in general, for that it is a jazz standard so that everyone would play it.
FROM There are so many standards out there that it's often hard to know where to start in the first place. It is important to know as many standards as possible for you. This knowledge will not only help you play fluently in concerts and jam sessions, but will also strengthen your improvisational skills and knowledge of harmonies. However, it is impossible to know them all, but the most necessary ones must be known.
IN Each country or city has its own specific set. It is important to spin in the local jazz scene and keep track of the most popular songs. But, there are certain melodies that are standards among standards. Songs that every jazz musician must know, and when you find yourself on stage in another city or country, most likely your repertoire list will strongly coincide with the local current.
H below list of 50 jazz standards which you need to know. If you're new and looking for a starting point, the list below is a must! Set a goal to master each tune, and you will have a solid foundation for becoming yourself as a musician. If you are an experienced player, make sure you know all these tunes. I guarantee you will need them many times over.
E If you do not know some of the melodies presented, you can click directly on the name of the standard and if there is material on it on the site, you will go directly to the tutorial post, with notes. Minus and backing tracks of jazz standards will.
R The section will be filled gradually, pay attention to the date of publication of the post. I spend a lot of time and countless hours researching these tunes and creating material for each one.
E If you already know all these songs, your journey is not over, this is just the beginning... Come visit more often, subscribe and follow the news in my group: vk.com/gorec_sax
50 Jazz Standards Everyone Should Know:
- All of me
- All The Things You Are
- Alone Together
- autumn leaves
- Billie's Bounce
- Black Orpheus
- blue boss
- body and soul
- But not for me
- Bye Bye Blackbird
- Cherokee
- Confirmation
- Days of Wine and Roses
- Doxy
- Fly me to the moon
- Footprints
- Four
- Have You Met Miss Jones
- How High The Moon
- I Hear a Rhapsody
- I love you
- I remember you
- I'll remember April
- I'm Old Fashioned
- If I Should Lose You
- If I Were A Bell
- In A Mellow Tone
- In A Sentimental Mood
- It Could Happen To You
- Just Friends
- My Funny Valentine
- night and day
- Oleo
- On Green Dolphin Street
- Recorda Me
- Satin Doll
- What Is This Thing Called Love
- Sweet Georgia Brown
- There Will Never Be Another You
- Up Jumped Spring
- Stella By Starlight
- Solar
- Take The A Train
- The Girl From Ipanema
- Scrapple From The Apple
- There Is No Greater Love
- St. Thomas
- Yesterdays
* Bold, highlighted standards description for which is on the site, just click on the name.Over time, material for each standard will be added to the site.
P Remember, mastering a jazz standard does not mean playing it from sheet music. Mastering the standard means playing in the harmonic sequence of the track, from sight, by memory or by ear. The last option is the most favorite, it saves you from memorizing sequences. But, not everyone can play by ear. This skill can be developed, someone in the very early age distinguishes sounds barely hearing, but to someone " bear stepped on ear"There's nothing to be done here...
H oh don't be upset, you can always play the improvisation on the chords written on paper, this will not affect the technical aspect of your improvisation at all. Order removal of chords from any song on this moment will not be difficult, for 200-300 rubles. it is quite real. But besides this, "the whole ocean" is written for chord progressions for jazz standards, so the world is at your feet, gentlemen, you just have to want, YOU JUST WANT ...