# The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire

The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire is a 2012 book by Ted Gioia documenting what he considers to be the most important tunes in the jazz repertoire. The book is published by Oxford University Press. The book features a range of jazz standards in alphabetical order, from Broadway show tunes by the likes of George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, to the standards of esteemed jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter and Charles Mingus. In the book Gioia has recommendations for definitive covers of each standard to listen to, over 2000 in total. Each jazz standard entry in the book contains descriptive text and selected discography.

## Background

Gioia states that he was inspired to write the book due to the difficulties he encountered as an aspiring jazz musician in his youth when he would turn up to jam sessions and feel embarrassed at not knowing the tunes and not having a list or some kind of reference he could use to learn to expected repertoire. He stated that: "I soon realized what countless other jazz musicians have no doubt also learned: in-depth study of the jazz repertoire is hardly a quaint historical sideline, but essential for survival. Not learning these songs puts a jazz player on a quick path to unemployment." Gioia's purpose for writing it was to provide a "type of survey, the kind of overview of the standard repertoire that I wished someone had given me back in the day—a guide that would have helped me as a musician, as a critic, as a historian, and simply as a fan and lover of the jazz idiom".

## Reviews

The Telegraph states that it is a "comprehensive guide to the most important jazz compositions, is a unique resource, a browser's companion, and an invaluable introduction to the art form", adding that "musicians who play these songs night after night now have a handy guide, outlining their history and significance and telling how they have been performed by different generations of jazz artists", and is described as such on the Toronto Public Library website. Clive Davis writing for The Independent noted that "Apart from his elegant prose style, the first thing you notice about Ted Gioia's approach to his subject is that the music clearly gives him no end of pleasure", and that the book contains numerous "witty" personal anecdotes of Gioia's experience of the tunes. He considers The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire a "bold attempt to summarise the core repertoire". The London Review of Bookshops wrote that the book would "appeal to a wide audience, serving as a fascinating introduction for new fans, an invaluable and long-needed handbook for jazz lovers and musicians, and an indispensable reference for students and educators". Dennis Drabelle of The Washington Post remarked that it was "hard to quarrel with Gioia’s seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of what is still hot or not" but was critical of some of his omissions of information, such as failing to mention that "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" was prominent in the Howard Hawks comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938).

## Standards

The following standards are listed in the book:
* After You've Gone
* Ain't Misbehavin'
* Airegin
* Alfie
* All Blues
* All of Me
* All of You
* All the Things You Are
* Alone Together
* Angel Eyes
* April in Paris
* Autumn in New York
* Autumn Leaves
* Bags' Groove
* Basin Street Blues
* Beale Street Blues
* Bemsha Swing
* Billie's Bounce
* Blue Bossa
* Blue in Green
* Blue Monk
* Blue Moon
* Blue Skies
* Bluesette
* Body and Soul
* But Beautiful
* But Not For Me
* Bye Bye Blackbird
* C Jam Blues
* Cantaloupe Island
* Caravan
* Chelsea Bridge
* Cherokee
* A Child Is Born
* Come Rain or Come Shine
* Come Sunday
* Con Alma
* Confirmation
* Corcovado
* Cotton Tail
* Darn That Dream
* Days of Wine and Roses
* Desafinado
* Dinah
* Django
* Do Nothing till You Hear from Me
* Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?
* Donna Lee
* Don't Blame Me
* Don't Get Around Much Anymore
* East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)
* Easy Living
* Easy to Love
* Embraceable You
* Emily
* Epistrophy
* Everything Happens to Me
* Evidence
* Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
* Exactly Like You
* Falling In Love With Love
* Fascinating Rhythm
* Fly Me to the Moon
* A Foggy Day
* Footprints
* Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You
* Georgia On My Mind
* Ghost of a Chance
* Giant Steps
* The Girl From Ipanema
* God Bless the Child
* Gone With the Wind
* Good Morning Heartache
* Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
* Groovin' High
* Have You Met Miss Jones?
* Here's That Rainy Day
* Honeysuckle Rose
* Hot House
* How Deep Is The Ocean?
* How High The Moon
* How Insensitive
* How Long Has This Been Going On?
* I Can't Get Started
* I Can't Give You Anything But Love
* I Cover the Waterfront
* I Didn't Know What Time It Was
* I Fall In Love Too Easily
* I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)
* I Got Rhythm
* I Hear a Rhapsody
* I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
* I Love You
* I Mean You
* I Only Have Eyes For You
* I Remember Clifford
* I Should Care
* I Surrender, Dear
* I Thought About You
* I Want to Be Happy
* If You Could See Me Now
* I'll Remember April
* I'm in the Mood for Love
* Impressions
* In a Mellow Tone
* In a Sentimental Mood
* In Your Own Sweet Way
* Indiana
* Invitation
* It Could Happen to You
* It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
* It Might as Well Be Spring
* I've Found a New Baby
* Jitterbug Waltz
* Joy Spring
* Just Friends
* Just One of Those Things
* Just You, Just Me
* King Porter Stomp
* Lady Bird
* The Lady Is a Tramp
* Lament
* Laura
* Lester Leaps In
* Like Someone in Love
* Limehouse Blues
* Liza
* Lonely Woman
* Love for Sale
* Lover
* Lover, Come Back to Me
* Lover Man
* Lullaby of Birdland
* Lush Life
* Mack the Knife
* Maiden Voyage
* The Man I Love
* Manhã de Carnaval
* Mean to Me
* Meditation
* Memories of You
* Milestones
* Misterioso
* Misty
* Moment's Notice
* Mood Indigo
* More Than You Know
* Muskrat Ramble
* My Favorite Things
* My Foolish Heart
* My Funny Valentine
* My Old Flame
* My One and Only Love
* My Romance
* Naima
* Nardis
* Nature Boy
* The Nearness of You
* Nice Work If You Can Get It
* Night and Day
* Night in Tunisia
* Night Train
* Now's the Time
* Nuages
* Oh, Lady Be Good!
* Old Folks
* Oleo
* On a Clear Day
* On Green Dolphin Street
* On the Sunny Side of the Street
* Once I Loved
* One Note Samba
* One o'Clock Jump
* Ornithology
* Our Love is Here to Stay
* Out of Nowhere
* Over the Rainbow
* Peace
* The Peacocks
* Pennies From Heaven
* Perdido
* Poinciana
* Polka Dots and Moonbeams
* Prelude to a Kiss
* Rhythm-a-ning
* 'Round Midnight
* Royal Garden Blues
* Ruby, My Dear
* St. James Infirmary
* St. Louis Blues
* St. Thomas
* Satin Doll
* Scrapple from the Apple
* Secret Love
* The Shadow of Your Smile
* Shine
* Skylark
* Smile
* Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
* So What
* Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise
* Solar
* Solitude
* Someday My Prince Will Come
* Someone to Watch Over Me
* Song For My Father
* The Song Is You
* Sophisticated Lady
* Soul Eyes
* Speak Low
* Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
* Spring Is Here
* Stardust
* Star Eyes
* Stella By Starlight
* Stolen Moments
* Stompin' at the Savoy
* Stormy Weather
* Straight No Chaser
* Struttin' with Some Barbecue
* Summertime
* Sweet Georgia Brown
* 'S Wonderful
* Take Five
* Take the A Train
* Tea For Two
* Tenderly
* There Is No Greater Love
* There Will Never Be Another You
* These Foolish Things
* They Can't Take That Away from Me
* Things Ain't What They Used to Be
* Tiger Rag
* Time After Time
* Tin Roof Blues
* The Very Thought of You
* Waltz For Debby
* Watermelon Man
* Wave
* The Way You Look Tonight
* Well, You Needn't
* What Is This Thing Called Love?
* What's New?
* When the Saints Go Marching In
* Whisper Not
* Willow Weep For Me
* Yardbird Suite
* Yesterdays
* You Don't Know What Love Is
* You Go To My Head
* You Stepped Out of a Dream
* You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To