The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire

Up front, the scope of this book is purposely narrow. Mr. Gioia states that he picked songs that fans are likely to hear in performances (and musicians are likely requested to play). In that respect, if you compare the list of songs to, say, the contents of  The Real Book: Sixth Edition , there are major differences. On the other hand, the format Gioia uses would turn an already thick, 554-page book into a multi-volume set rivaling encyclopedias had he attempted to be more inclusive.Since this page has a "Look Inside" feature you can easily see the entire list of songs covered before making a purchase decision.What I love is the succinct format: discussion of the songs and list of recommended versions. The discussion almost always provides some technical detail, the history of the song, and - in some cases - interesting trivia. The recommended versions cite who, where and when. For example, for After You've Gone, Turner's and Layton's 1918 masterpiece that is endearingly popular, the first recommended version is listed as Marion Harris, Camden, New Jersey, July 22, 1918 (in this example the list contains ten recommendations, the latest of which is a 1995 recording.)A few other reviewers - especially Samuel Chell - have written comprehensive and insightful reviews, so I will not repeat their words. Instead, I'll explain why this book is indispensable to me. I am an amateur jazz historian. As a hobby I write a blog titled Music for Drummers, covering both musicians and music. In the past researching was time consuming and discovering facts about not only songs, but recordings and discographies, could take hours. The Recommended Versions part of the format in this book has proven to be an incredible time saver. And the descriptions and anecdotal information this book provides give me insights that I can weave into my own writing.For aficionados this is practically a concordance with some fascinating information tacked on. The index of this book is particularly helpful because it allows you to cross-reference songs, composers and musicians, and recordings.If you write about jazz as a hobby or professionally this book is essential and I do not use that word lightly. The same goes for the few remaining jazz DJs. Historians and educators will also find this book invaluable. If you are a dyed-in-the-wool aficionado you'll probably get hours of pleasure from randomly picking songs or focusing on some of your favorites or what is currently playing in the background.

The book was educational and made enjoyable reading. Highly recommended.

This book is written by a very knowledgeable jazz pianist. It goes in alphabetical order through 250 jazz songs where the author discusses the history of the song, the composer, and various versions that have been recorded. As the author states in the intro, the book can be used by professional musicians and amateurs alike. If you want to learn more about these "classic" jazz songs going back to the early 1900's, then this is a great book for you. It's certainly well written and researched. And it's the kind of book you can use as a "coffee table" book because if you have a song in mind and want to learn more about it, then open this book and read about it. It's not meant to be read cover to cover, but just as a reference for songs. So if you're playing or listening to "All The Things You Are", then go ahead and check out the two page summary of the song. If you're playing or listening to "The Shadow of Your Smile&", this book might add some interesting comments about the song, where it came from, who made it famous, the stars who performed and recorded it, the different styles of performance, etc. And it's filled with an informed and educated opinion from a jazz pianist, so you're getting excellent information. It's a fun book to have around. So many great standards are in the book and there's so much information about the songs. Just think of a song, "My Funny Valentine", "Autumn Leaves", "Take Five", "Take the A Train", "Body and Soul", etc. There are 250 great jazz standards in the book. You'll have fun looking up songs and reading about them.

This work is a labor of love for jazz and those who have been part of its history. I have learned about the multicultural dimension that has made jazz (and for that matter, the blues) an important aspect of America’s legacy to music history. I have particularly enjoyed discovering / learning about different versions of the standards (new and old interpretations).Sometimes I just pick up the book and open it at a random page. The author managed to strike a balance (IMO) on providing technical explanations to those versed in music theory but maintaining the reading fun and insightful for those of us who are jazz fans though not musicians.I think the selection of compositions, among such a rich universe, is spot on.This is something special and a work to which you’ll find yourself going back to explore the world of jazz through the history of its standards.

For someone who is unfamiliar with most of the tunes in Fakebooks aka the Realbook this is a great reference that gives a bit of history for many of the tunes as well as recommended recordings. Of course it is not a 1 to 1 match vs the tunes in the RealBook 6th edition but it has a great deal of overlap and is a great starting point to find what you should listen to in order to learn jazz.I worked through this book and created a playlist on Spotify based on the discography/recommended recordings of the songs in this book. For the vast majority I was able to find the specific recordings referenced. I find it very educational to listen to the same tune by different artists in a row to get the essence of the tune and see how differently it can be interpreted and arranged. But you can also use shuffle to mix up the list and just enjoy a random stream of really great jazz recordings. For those that don't know Spotify is a free service you can install their player on your computer and listen to just about anything you want though there are commercials every few songs. I created this playlist as a companion especially for this book so thought I should post a link here to the playlist: http://open.spotify.com/user/1213453431/playlist/3C296bXroVSMGoyqWWnAjw

The idea behind this book is so clever - it's a field-guide to around 250 songs that form, or at least used to form, the core collective repertoire of the jazz world - and so obvious with hindsight you have to wonder why it took till 2012 for anyone to come up with it. Anyway, here 'tis, and what a fine work it is.The songs included cover (a) original compositions from jazz musicians, (b) huge swathes of the Great American Songbook (c) contrafacts (a mix of [a] and [b] where jazz musicians write new melodies over existing chord sequences) and (d) traditional tunes whose origins are lost in the mists of time. For each tune, Gioia gives a potted history, some engaging anecdotes and a list of recommended recordings. The songs covered range in time from "The Saints" (but don't let that put you off), from some time early in the last century if not earlier, to Thad Jones's "A Child Is Born" from 1970, and the recommended recordings start with the ODJB in 1917 - the very birth of recorded jazz - and continue almost to the year of publication, covering a vast range of styles and performers. Gioia's tastes are admirably open-minded and eclectic.It's an elegant, engaging and addictive format, and you will find yourself looking up one song and putting the book down an hour later having read about dozens more. Books of lists being what they are you'll inevitably find yourself arguing with it. Why, for example, did songs you don't like make the cut and why were some that seem like obvious inclusions left out (I'd have loved to have seen "High Society", "Flying Home", "Move" , "Midnight Sun" and "Work Song", to take a trot from New Orleans through to soul-jazz, but hey ho)? Then again, you might just stumble across some you'd never heard of before. There were at least two that were totally new to me and I've been reasonably well-versed in jazz for the best part of 40 years. This, of course, is a Good Thing.There are a few things that could have been done better. It would be good to have the date of composition in brackets after each title/chapter heading. Where relevant, it would be helpful to have a list of notable contrafacts provided after the "parent" song. And while Gioia's prose is clear, readable and insightful, it's not as pithy as some jazz writers (like Gary Giddins and the late Richard Cook), and his occasional attempts at a gag are a bit leaden. But for the most part this is an informative, entertaining book, and the lists of recommended recordings are terrific. You'll pat yourself on the back for knowing some already, get aggrieved that some of your favourites are missing, and, best of all, find yourself investigating versions that are totally new to you. There's no higher praise for music writing than it getting the listener to check out something new. This book's going to have me doing that dozens of times, if not more, over the coming weeks.

Not quite what I'd expected. Has a series of anecdotes about each piece: composers, settings, best performance or whatever. However there isn't any formal musical analysis.

This book is what it claims to be - a catalogue of the jazz standards that every aspiring jazz player should know, and that will be of interest to all jazz enthusiasts. Each tune is presented with a description of its origins, frequently with anecdotes to add some background. A lits of suggested recordings is also presented.

i was initially a little disappointed when this book came through ..was hoping for some musical examples ..but , i have used it to find out information on tunes that i've listened to and taught ..ie : indiana was written by a guy who had not been there lol! did you know that? ..there are soooo many really interesting songs,..each with their unique story to tell .. i'm really starting to like this book , a lot!

Covers many jazz standards with history of the composition, definitive versions, a great reference book.