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By
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
What are the ingredients that make a
song into a “jazz standard”? It would be
convenient if there were a set recipe, but
more often it’s a complex mixture of musical
influences (harmony and melody) and artist
prerogative.
From its beginnings until the 1950s,
jazz was a utilitarian music intended mostly
for dancing. Consequently, musicians felt
compelled to include a large percentage
of popular songs in their repertoire. Recorded
evidence is not always the best yardstick
for judging what jazz groups played, especially
prior to the 1940s (when artists were finally
allowed more input regarding tune selection).
For example, King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band,
arguably the benchmark of excellence in
classic jazz performance, recorded 40 titles
in 1923, yet not one is a popular song.
Anecdotal evidence, however, indicates the
band routinely played many pop tunes on
their regular engagements. On the other
hand, the Jean Goldkette Orchestra of 1927,
which featured the talented cornetist Bix
Beiderbecke, was relegated to recording
a mostly dreary group of pop songs, and
the great jazz numbers arranged by Bill
Challis were unreleased by Victor Records
which considered them commercially unacceptable.
Even from the very first jazz recordings
in 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band
(“Indiana”
and “Darktown
Strutters Ball”), recording executives
could see that it was mutually beneficial
to work with sheet music companies to “push”
certain songs. In the 1930s, pianist, vocalist,
band leader and composer
Fats Waller would be given a group of
the latest popular songs from the Brill
Building (Tin Pan Alley’s unofficial headquarters)
and told to select the ones he wanted to
record. Rarely was he ever given an opportunity
to record his own compositions which were
generally far superior to the standard Tin
Pan Alley fare.
Some artists, especially those who had
achieved a degree of popularity, were able
to negotiate with recording executives in
favor of better quality material. The first
jazz musician who appears to have been given
some latitude in choosing his recorded repertoire
was
Louis Armstrong, who in the late 1920s
and early 1930s recorded such tunes as “Body
and Soul,” “Stardust,”
“Georgia
on My Mind,” “Ain’t
Misbehavin’,” “I
Got Rhythm,” “After
You’ve Gone,” and “St.
Louis Blues”--- these just from the
top 100 jazz standards list.
Duke Ellington is another artist who,
almost from the beginning of his recording
career, was able to record his own compositions
and very few pop tunes.
As the popularity of swing music increased
in the mid-1930s, top record-selling artists
such as
Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey,
Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw made a point
of recording better quality material in
favor of the Tin Pan Alley songs that undoubtedly
they were required to record. Yet, as in
the 1920s, some bandleaders, for economic
survival, were required to cater to the
Tin Pan Alley song pluggers, especially
those who were struggling to get their bands
off the ground such as Bunny Berigan, Jack
Teagarden and Gene Krupa.
Despite the effects of the Great Depression,
the period from 1929 to 1940 is the era
where the majority of jazz standards originated.
During this decade there were a great many
excellent songwriters contributing well-crafted
material for Broadway shows (and for movie
musicals) such as
George Gershwin,
Cole Porter,
Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart,
Irving Berlin ,
Hoagy Carmichael, and Walter Donaldson,
to name just a very few whose material rose
above the standard Tin Pan Alley fare.
Generally, a contributing factor to a
song becoming a standard is due to an important
jazz recording. For example,
Louis Armstrong’s 1931 version of “Stardust”
was a key recording of the tune, making
it popular among jazz musicians. Nevertheless
other non-jazz recordings, like
Bing Crosby’s, helped assure the tune’s
popularity among the general public. Although
Armstrong recorded “Body in Soul” in 1930
and
Benny Goodman in 1935, it was really
Coleman Hawkins’ 1939 treatment that made
the tune the standard it is today. The same
situation applies consistently throughout
jazz history.
Although external influences like World
Wars, the Great Depression, and the 1940s
bans by ASCAP and the American Federation
of Musicians affected aspects of musicians’
work, these things had little effect on
what musicians played. But following the
recording ban there were a number of indie
recording companies formed specifically
to record jazz artists, and these
companies extended
artistic control to the musicians, enabling
them to select their own material. While
the major companies were recording pop versions
of “How Much is That Doggie in the Window?”
and the “Hut Sut Song,” indies like Keynote
and Savoy were recording classics such as
“Night
and Day,” “All
the Things You Are,” “Cherokee,”
and “Just
You Just Me” by artists like Coleman
Hawkins, Charlie Parker,
Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Don
Byas.
Following World War II, as recording
technology progressed from the 78 rpm to
direct-to-disk recording to the long playing
33 1/3 record and, especially, the longer
recording times afforded by magnetic tape,
one can get a better idea of how jazz artists
selected their repertoire from live recordings.
For example, it’s interesting to look at
a list of tunes played by Charlie Parker
on a gig in March, 1947. Out of 26 tunes
recorded, ten are on the top 100 jazz standards
list, including “Body
and Soul,” “Indiana,”
“All
the Things You Are,” “Stardust,”
“Perdido,”
and “Night
in Tunisia,” and several other tunes
(“Hot
House” and “Ornithology”)
are originals based on the chord changes
of standards. Similarly, a recorded portion
of a 1963 gig by pianist Bill Evans consists
of 11 tunes, seven of which are from the
top 100 jazz standards, including “Lover
Man,” “Love
is Here to Stay,” “‘Round
Midnight,” “All
the Things You Are,” and “What
is This Thing Called Love.”
Ultimately, one cannot create a formula
to explain why a particular song becomes
a standard, but the revelation from jazz
history is that it frequently comes down
to those songs that are artists’ favorites,
the tunes that inspire them to creatively
spin an improvisational web.
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