Jazz Standards: Advice needed

[Marky D.]

Any ideas on some "guaranteed to please" jazz standards that I should include in a 3 piece variety band w/guitar/bass/drums?

Thanks!

[Tylercaster]

Autumn Leaves, Satin Doll, So What, are some easy favorites.

Seriously, there are something like 150 "must-know" standards, and I've never seen even two "top 10" lists that agree completely.

One other consideration is how much experience do you have playing chord-solo style jazz guitar? Some tunes are easier than others, so if you're kind of new to this (I'm just guessing here), you might want to stick to some of the tunes with fewer chord changes.

That said (and in addition to Autumn Leaves and Satin Doll, which should definitely be on your list) here are some others that are pretty much "guaranteed" to be recognized as jazz standards. (But before anybody jumps in and says, "Hey! How could you forget "My Favorite Jazz Tune Here?" remember that we've only named about 20 so far, so those other 130-odd tunes are all valid candidates, too.) ;-)

All of Me
All the Things You Are
Blue Bossa
Days of Wine and Roses
Don't Get Around Much Anymore
Girl From Ipanema
Green Dolphin Street
Here’s That Rainy Day
How High the Moon
Just Friends
Misty
My Funny Valentine (a frequent request)
Night and Day
Out of Nowhere
Stella By Starlight
Sweet Georgia Brown
Take the "A" Train

To find the chord changes for these, look online for "The Real Book" or see if you can purchase a copy somewhere. Best of luck, CS

[Tylercaster]

My Favorite Things - John Coltrane. The Tony Rice Unit did a good job of that one, too.

I've never played any of those with guitar, bass, drums but I'll bet it would be fun. When it comes to the jazz, I'm the bassist usually with piano and drums.

Be sure to check out Bright Size Life with Pat Metheney and Jaco Pastorius. Brilliant! Jaco did a lot of jazz guitar,bass,drums trios in his later years with Mike Stern etc.. You'll get some good ideas from those.

[Tele295]

In addition to the ones Chris and Tyler mentioned, I'd add Duke Ellington's "Caravan" to my short list.

Also, look for tunes that are not generally known as guitar tunes but rather sax/woodwind, brass or piano. Make 'em into guitar versions!

[stevieboy]

If you come from a blues background, Duke Ellington's "Things Ain't What They Used To be" would be a great place to start, it's a straight blues shuffle but a recognizable melody, and you'll have a repetoire of one before you know it.

[DaveG]

among the Django gypsy-jazz guitar cognoscenti, these are the "must know" tunes:

Minor Swing
Sweet Georgia Brown
All of Me
Nuages (in G)
Honeysuckle Rose
Djangology
Dark Eyes
Swing 42
Daphne
Autumn Leaves
Bossa Dorado
I Can't Give You Anything But Love

[Bill E.]

I got to play that with Grapelli, on an original Maccaferri. (Diz Dizley's Backup) The best of times, fer sure!


Bill

[Dirt]

Jazz Chords! Try a few of these. Lots of standards... :)

My best,
Dirt
buddyemmons.com

[lenny]

impressions , by coltrane (whip out your wes licks!)
stella by starlight
all the things you are
stompin at the savoy
anything off of miles davis "kind of blue"
milestones
juju by wayne shorter (awesome love it!)
four on six , by wes montgomery
body and soul, great ballad
just friends
alone together
lol i'll stop there looks like you have plenty to get started on

[Lyle Caldwell]

All good suggestions.

Hey, anyone have a headsheet for "September Song"?

[Lyle Caldwell]

Nevermind, I figured it out. Thanks, Willie.

[pops_staples1]

[lenny]

for guitar jazz
clearly its wes all the way
"4 on 6"
"tune up"
take notes and proceed

[lenny]

impressions'
is next