Dead Repetoire?

[oliebrice]

Typing that Lacy quote in the free jazz thread made me think. He talks about needing to know all the new tunes to be able to play in jam sessions. In how many jam sessions today would you be expected to know new tunes by Brad Meldhau, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland etc?
I know the bebop tunes where mostly based on standards, but still... At the jam sessions I occaisionally attend in Manchester if you can get away from one-chord pseudo-funk jams theres not much played thats been written since Cantelope Island... maybe thats why I can so rarely be bothered to go!

[Bruce Lindfield]

I go to Jazz workshops in Brighton which are lead by local Jazz pros and they often bring along new tunes they have written/arranged for everybody to play/jam on.

I have pile of A4 lead sheets with tunes given to me at things like this that contains literally hundreds of tunes - laid flat on my shelf, it's about 18" tall at the moment!!

I go to Jazz Summerschool every year and meet a lot of Jazz pros who are the tutors and they typically will know over a thousand tunes they can play with other people at the drop of a hat - no music !

[Michael Case]

Originally Posted by Jason Sypher

Seems like it's very difficult to write a tune that becomes part of the standard rep.

True, but that doesn't mean people should try.

[Michael Case]

You are correct sir, I'm sorry for my inattention.

[Confucius]

What makes a tune become a standard anyway? It certainly isnt only on the merits of the tune itself. Fewer and fewer songs get added as the decades go by perhaps because there is a somewhat finite size that a standard repetoire can be in order for it to be practical. If this is true then in order to add more new tunes, some old ones would have to fall by the wayside to some degree. And since the repetoire is so institutionalized now this isnt happening. All the formal jazz education available now and reissued recordings etc are a mixed blessing.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Olie never mentioned "standards" - the tunes Steve Lacey talked about were what was being played and written by his contemporaries - I think this still applies and that "repertoire" is one of the big things that helps an aspiring Jazz student get work - the more tunes you can play "at the drop of a hat" , the more gigs you will get.

This is certainly what all the Jazz pros I've met are saying to anyone who wants to break into the scene...

[Sam Sherry]

Originally Posted by Jason Sypher

Seems like it's very difficult to write a tune that becomes part of the standard rep.

Yes sir.

A few "more recent" tunes which seem to have caught on:
Steve Swallow's "Falling Grace"
John Abercrombie's "Ralph's Piano Waltz"
Jaco Pastorius' "Three Views of a Secret"