WHAT ARE JAZZ STANDARDS AND SWING CLASSICS?
A jazz standard is a widely-known musical composition, interpreted and recorded among jazz musicians. The list of songs considered as such is not set by any institution or organization; nor is there complete agreement. When a song is played regularly and most musicians know it, it becomes a standard.
The jazz standard concept began to become popular when, after the 40s, the first compilations of standards came into being (so-called Fake Books and Real Books). By comparing the themes included in these books one quickly realizes that, despite many songs being common among them, many others are not included in the different compilations.
It should be made quite clear that a jazz standard is not synonymous with what we might call a swing classic. Quite a large number of songs that were hits on dance floors or radio stations during the 30s and 40s have not become jazz standards. In fact, the jazz standard concept is more closely linked to the arrangements that are played in jam sessions (concerts where the musicians go onto the stage and completely improvise the tunes) rather than with dance or commercial success. This means we can also conclude that there are many jazz standards that have never been classics of swing.
Fake Books, books that include jazz standards, are designed for small dance formations or, above all, for jam sessions. Therefore, they do not include all the information about the song (what each instrument has to play at any time), but only the harmony (the chords) and, in some cases, the melody and lyrics. It is assumed that each member of the group will have to decide what they will do, either by trying to copy any existing version they like, creating a new one or, in most cases, improvising on the fly.
Here is an example of the information that these compilations usually include for each of the arrangements:
Fake Book tells us that Pick Yourself Up has an AABA structure, 32 bars long. Each box represents a bar of the song. We see that many bars include two chords, so each of them in that case lasts half the bar (two beats). It also defines what harmony has (what chords) each section.
Note that, in this case, it tells us that the first and fourth A section are identical (that is why it no longer repeats the chords at the bottom line and there is an arrow that connects the two sections) and that the second A makes variations (that's why it is call A').
It also informs us of a variant for the B section, and that the song, originally, had a verse of 18 bars. Taking into account that is is not usually played, it does not even indicate harmony.
It says it has to be played at a medium tempo, with a standard rhythm.
In this case, it also tells us which are the main recorded versions of the song, so that the musician, if he wishes, can find them and inspire when making his version.
How does a song get to be a jazz standard or a swing classic?
Although there are a large number of compositions that were created thinking of swing dancers or, later, as a source of inspiration in musical jams, the greatest part of the repertoire undergoes a series of changes and transformations before becoming a standard or a classic. Some songs originated from popular songs, especially from the scores printed at Tin Pan Alley (a collection of music publishers located in a small area of Manhattan and who dominated popular music in the United States of America at the turn of the nineteenth century and beginnings of the twentieth). Other compositions came from magazines and musical comedies, variety shows or films. Among them even arrangements that did not have a 4/4 time signature (for example the theme When I Grow Too Old to Dream originally at a 3/4 time signature).
Here are some examples of tunes that come from traditional or popular songs (you can listen to them on Spotify by clicking on the song or going to the list we have created):
- When the Saints Go Marching In (nineteenth century traditional)
- Bill Bailey (cake walk by Hughie Cannon, 1902)
- St. Louis Blues (blues by W.C Handy, 1914)
- Avalone (Vincent Rose, 1918)
- Long Gone From Bowling Green (W.C. Handy, 1920)
- Careless Love (W.C. Handy, 1921)
- Baby, Won't You Please Come Home (Charles Warfield, 1922)
Examples that come from Broadway shows (the name of the musical where the song first appeared and the year it was premiered is shown in brackets):
- After You've Gone (So Long, Letty, 1918)
- Oh, Lady Be Good! (Lady, Be Good, 1924)
- Dinah (Kid Boots, 1925)
- Tea for Two (No, No, Nanette, 1925)
- Blue Skies (Betsy, 1927)
- Ain't Misbehavin (Hot Chocolates, del 1929)
- I Got Rhythm (Girl Crazy, 1930)
- On the Sunny Side of the Street (The International Revue, 1930)
- It's Only a Paper Moon (The Great Maggo, 1933)
- You're the Top (Anything Goes, 1934)
- Summertime (Porgy and Bess, 1935)
- My Funny Valentine (Babes in Arms, 1937)
Examples of tunes that come from musical films (the name of the movie where the song appeared and the year of the premiere is shown in brackets):
- Night and Day (The Gay Divorcee, 1932)
- It's Only a Paper Moon (Take a Chance, Harold Arlon, 1933)
- Blue Moon (Hollywood Party, 1934)
- Pennies from Heaven (Pennies from Heaven, 1936)
- A Fine Romance (Swing Time, 1936)
- The Way You Look Tonight (Swing Time, 1936)
- Easy Living (Easy Living, 1937)
- Nice Work If You Can Get It (A Damsel in Distress, 1937)
- They Can't Take That Away From Me (Shall We Dance, 1937)
- Love Is Here to Stay (The Goldwyn Follies, 1938)
If you look for these songs in different Fake Books, they may be written in different ways. We do not mean that they are written in a different tonality or chord sequence (something quite usual), but that they have different structures. One of the main reasons why this happens is precisely because the first version of the song did not fit the new use it was given and so it was changed. This meant that there could be several versions, very different from each other, and this results in different standards. Let's take a look at the main structural transformations these songs underwent.
Loss of the verse-chorus structure
Many of the arrangements jazz standards and swing classics came from originally had two types of clearly contrasted parts that, especially on Broadway, were called the verse and the chorus. The verse was the part of the song that had the function of fitting it in the show or film, placing the action or giving references to the specific meaning of the song. It tended to be less lively, with a slower tempo, and even written in a different measure. The chorus was the most important part, from the musical point of view, with the main message, with a melody easier to remember and more rhythmically animated. Originally the chorus had the function of a refrain for the song, but it slowly lost that roll and became an elaborate, complete section, with contrasting phrases (at the beginning of the 20th century the AABA form for these choruses was gaining popularity) and attractive enough by itself.
This meant that when the songs were played out of the show or the movie, either on the radio or in dance halls, the musicians tended to eliminate the verse, thus making the song more functional and easier to popularise. It is important to remember that when recording the song on a disc it had to be shortened to fit the maximum of three and a half minutes allowed by recordings at that time. Also, radio stations demanded short songs, mainly so that they could put on more ads. Eliminating the verse was the easiest way to shorten any song. Omitting it also made it easier for musicians to learn the song and so make better improvisations during jam sessions.
Even so, some songs kept the verse. There is a well-known example in Tain't What You Do:
A good example of a song that has lost the verse, as we mentioned before, is Pick Yourself Up. This is a composition from the musical film Swing Time, premiered in 1936. Many versions have been made of this song and we have selected three, all of which you can watch in the video at the end of this explanation.
In the original version, the one in the film, there are two verses that are designed to connect the song with the plot of the scene where Fred Astaire asks the dance instructor (Ginger Rogers) for help. In the chorus, which has an AABA form, she gives him advice on how to deal with learning difficulties. The refrain is also at the service of the theatrical action and, when Ginger Rogers tells Fred Astaire to take a deep breath, pick up, dust off and start again, the melody adds a musical bar so that he can perform each of these actions. This causes the last A of the chorus to have two more eights (four bars) compared to the other two As.
But when the song became popular and was played for dancers, the verses did not make sense or appeal outside the movie and were eliminated, as can be seen in the second version of the video of Big Band Begues.
The lyrics, now without the verse, no longer speak of overcoming dance difficulties, but about solving disagreements and struggling to vanquish them in general. The song takes on a new dimension that makes it interesting outside the movie. In this version the extra bars of the third A section of the chorus are kept. Although it no longer has the sense of theatrical action, it is used to improvise on the rhythm.
Finally, in the third version in the video, this time played by the Ransom Middle School Jazz Band, the structure is simplified even further and the three A sections are all played in the same way, with 8 bars (4 eights) each, without a verse and without the added bars. This is the version most Fake Books consider to be the standard for this song, as you have seen in the image at the top of this page.
We can find many more variations in the structure of this song (adding more or less chorus, making different intros or outros, with interludes between choruses...). This video only shows one possible evolution, by way of example, to understand how in many cases, the original versions were transformed to be able to succeed beyond musicals and shows.
We must add, to sum up, that some songs that later became standards were first composed with jazz bands in mind and did not come from shows or movies, nor were they adaptations of popular songs. Here are some examples:
- I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate (Armand Prion, 1922)
- King Porter Stomp (Jelly Roll Morton, 1924)
- It Don't Mean a Thing (Duke Ellington, 1932)
- Moten Swing (Bennie Moten, 1932)
- Stompin' at the Savoy (Edgar Sampson, 1934)
- One O'clock Jump (Count Basie, 1937)
- Flying Home (Lionel Hampton, 1939)
- Take the 'A' Train (Billy Strayhorn, 1939)
- Undecided (Charlie Shavers, 1939)
- Easy Does It (Sy Oliver, 1940)
If you have not done so yet, you can visit these pages to find additional information on the topic of standards and versions:
Versions. The same song, with different arrangements.
Rose Room, an example of song versions.