The question comes up frequently about what to play. You get asked to play something at a gig, what songs should you know? Here is a list, courtesy of the group and the Guitar players FAQ:
From: Saggy
Date: Wed, Jan 18 2006 9:51amThis is from the guitar player's faq
This is an unalphabetized list of tunes commonly called at jam sessions. Some are standards and some are "jazz standards". A separate list of standards is given below. The choice of tunes in a jam session are often limited to "Real Book tunes", i.e., tunes that are in the illegal fakebook known as the Real Book. While generally accurate and a big improvement over existing fakebooks at the time, the Real Book has some idiosyncracies and errors that have now become the de facto structure or changes of the tune. Some of these are noted below.
- Autumn Leaves
- Green Dolphin Street (usually played in C, the wrong key (should be
- Eb), but it's in that key in the Real Book, so....)
- Have You Met Miss Jones
- So What
- All Blues
- Milestones
- There Is No Greater Love
- There Will Never Be Another You
- Four
- Satin Doll
- Well You Needn't (played with the incorrect bridge, which is what
- appears in the Real Book)
- A Foggy Day
- I Love You
- I'll Remember April
- In Your Own Sweet Way
- Summertime
- All The Things You Are
- Alone Together
- Straight No Chaser (usually played in incorrect key of F instead of Bb)
- Tenor Madness
- Confirmation
- It's You Or No One
- Out of Nowhere
- Recordame
- Solar
- Stella By Starlight
- Mr. PC
- Take The A Train
- The Girl From Ipanema
- What Is This Thing Called Love?
- Yardbird Suite
- Yesterdays
- You Stepped Out Of A Dream
- Little Sunflower
- In Your Own Sweet Way
- Rhythm changes or any number of bop heads based on it
- Blue Bossa
- Lady Bird
What are some essential standards that I should know?
This list is in alphabetical order and the usual key is listed in parentheses afterwards. This list is necessarily incomplete for brevity's sake and inclusion of a particular tune on the list is also arguable. However, these tunes are a good place to start and comprise a reasonable repertoire of standards. Note that these are STANDARDS, i.e., usually show or pop tunes that have made it into the jazz canon. "Jazz standards" such as "Four" or "Blue Bossa" are not included and may have their own list someday. See also the list of typical jam session tunes.
- Autumn Leaves (Gm)
- All the Things You Are (Ab)
- Body and Soul
- Caravan
- Cherokee (Bb)
- Girl From Ipanema
- How High the Moon (G)
- Honeysuckle Rose (F)
- I'll Remember April
- In a Sentimental Mood
- Just Friends (F)
- Like Someone in Love
- Misty
- My Funny Valentine
- On Green Dolphin Street
- Satin Doll (C)
- Stella by Starlight
- Summertime
- Take the "A" Train (C)
- There is No Greater Love (Bb)
- There Will Never Be Another You (Eb)
- You Stepped Out of a Dream
From: Pete Thomas
Date: Wed, Jan 18 2006 12:42pmHey, great answer and very helpful. There's a couple here I haven't even heard of but I've always hated the real/fake book approach - sorry, I know I should really fall into line.
However it can be very differnt depending on geography. When i was doing jam sessions there were some other necessary tunes:
- Shiny Stockings
- C Jam Blues
- Billies Bounce
- St. Thomas
- Sister Sadie
- Poinciana
- Night in Tunisia
- I Got it Bad and That ain't Good
- Times a Changing (Things Ain't What...)
- Perdido
- Flying Home
- I'm in the Mood for Love.
- If anyone asks me to play Blue Bossa I say "no". However I will play "Oh
- When The Saints"
- And this only scratches the surface because it only relates to jazz.
- When you consider R & B gigs you need to a whole other bag.
- Night Train
- Tequila
- etc etc.