cuddling up with the real book

composer libby larsen did a residency at our school about eight years ago.  she workshopped pieces for various ensemble types, discussed her approach to composing, and pressed the flesh with aspiring musicians and casual community snoops alike.  i got two good things out of her visit:  #1 she told me that she stuffs her pockets with mini candy bars and pops one in her mouth about five minutes before she goes and speaks/teaches/appears in front of people.  many of my students' lives have been saved because of this little trick.

#2 is a lecture masterclass she gave about being a composer in the world.  she referenced a series of lps that accompanied turntables on the retail market in the 1930s.  people that bought record players were immediately exposed to a select collection of classical music.  i remember that when i bought my blu-ray player from best buy, it came with a couple free blu-ray discs.  i never would have seen invincible otherwise. she talked about the struggle that she, and others who champion new music, face in society's climate of artistic expectations.  i'm proud of my latest tune mr. falcon, but i bet most folks at the club would rather hear stella.

i think the gist of what libby preached was that folks may in fact be predisposed to like certain types of music within a genre.  my parents probably figure hearing mozart and beethoven on a classical set is a full meal, and my neighbors will likely go home happy if they hear some louis armstrong and duke ellington at a jazz gig.  ticket sales at major venues definitely support this idea of older means better (i'm looking at you, blue note records).  original tunes or crafty arrangements are nice and all, but the pedestrian listener isn't sure what to make of all the intricacies in your artwork.  i ate a bunch of fancy food on an alaskan cruise this summer and, yeah - it looked pretty cool, but i enjoyed it more if it tasted good.  and it did.  i've got the extra pudge to prove it.  nobody tell tony horton.

i played a jazz casual (do they still call it that) (did they ever call it that) this past saturday with some good friends. the gig boasted fine players and cool guys, but not an ensemble that has rehearsed or put together tunes.  we were assembling set lists for the evening in an attempt to be organized and, i must admit, i kinda got my butt handed to me with the song selection.  boy was i glad that i brought my real book along.  i either am out of touch with what the assumed jazz standards are or need to start learning a bunch of tunes.  a bit of both, i imagine.

among the thorns were invitation - which i really only know from the weird organ aebersold accompaniment that never endeared itself to me, nica's dream - a horace silver tune that i rarely check out, along came betty - a benny golson chart that i last played 10+ years ago with my friend tom sandahl, a tune with cool changes and a forgettable melody, and caravan - an old ellington thing that a bunch of folks like doing, yet i last looked at michael abene's arrangement of it for the jazz corridor project a while ago.



how many jazz standards should i keep in rotation?  i know a bass player who alleges to know over 300 tunes and another saxophonist who says he can keep up to 25 tunes in his head.  i suppose the next question is defining my definition of "knowing" a tune.  with my experiences as a horn player & rhythm section guy, my criteria has changed with time.  know the melody, know the changes, know how to voice the chords, know the lyric, know at least one great recording of this tune, know it in more than just the book key, and know it well enough that i can singlehandedly save the tune from itself.

with that said, i know i am nowhere close to 300 and doubt if i am in 25's ballpark.  geesh - it's kinda embarrassing.  have i spent too much time teaching other tunes in a short time frame and writing/arranging songs that i like (and aren't necessarily from the vaults of jazz hits)?  who decides which tunes are the ones i should be memorizing?  should i quit doing my thing and instead start relearning a bunch of tunes, get my swcc vocal jazz days up and running again?  i don't really want to shed the personal identity i've struggled to discover, but i also should save some face and not need to read angel eyes.  is it time for me to put down the flag of my musical crusade and get back in the shed?

as a side man, which was the case this past weekend, i need to have a handle on a bunch of these tunes. as a leader, the burden and luxury of programming the evening's tunes falls upon my shoulders.  herbie came out with a record many years back called the new standard, and it basically helped remind us that the jams from gershwin, duke, hoagy, and cole porter aren't necessarily a representation of today's music.

i don't plan to stop writing my own tunes and coming up with creative twists to old standards, but i certainly need to get my butt in gear and learn some more tunes.  with my wife's recent n.d.e. and my sister weathering the firestorm that threatened to take her home, i've realized that this life is a short one.  and with that, i think i'll split the difference.