List of pre-1920 jazz standards explained

Jazz standards are musical compositions that are widely known, performed and recorded by jazz artists as part of the genre's musical repertoire. This list includes compositions written before 1920 that are considered standards by at least one major fake book publication or reference work. Some of the tunes listed were instant hits and quickly became well-known standards, while others were popularized later. The time of the most influential recordings of a song, where appropriate, is indicated on the list.

From its conception at the change of the twentieth century, jazz was music intended for dancing. This influenced the choice of material played by early jazz groups: King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, New Orleans Rhythm Kings and others included many Tin Pan Alley popular songs in their repertoire, and record companies often used their power to dictate which songs were to be recorded by their artists. Certain songs were pushed by recording executives and therefore quickly achieved standard status; this started with the first jazz recordings in 1917, when the Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded "Darktown Strutters' Ball" and "Indiana".[1] Originally simply called "jazz", the music of early jazz bands is today often referred to as "Dixieland" or "New Orleans jazz", to distinguish it from more recent subgenres.

The origins of jazz are in the musical traditions of early twentieth-century New Orleans, including brass band music, the blues, ragtime and spirituals, and some of the most popular early standards come from these influences. Ragtime songs "Twelfth Street Rag" and "Tiger Rag" have become popular numbers for jazz artists, as have blues tunes "St. Louis Blues" and "St. James Infirmary". Tin Pan Alley songwriters contributed several songs to the jazz standard repertoire, including "Indiana" and "After You've Gone". Others, such as "Some of These Days" and "Darktown Strutters' Ball", were introduced by vaudeville performers. The most often recorded standards of this period are W. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues", Turner Layton and Henry Creamer's "After You've Gone" and James Hanley and Ballard MacDonald's "Indiana".[2]

Traditional (author unknown)

see also Spirituals#Notable songs

1900–1909

1910–1914

1915–1917

1918–1919

Bibliography

Reference works

Fake books

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jazz History . Tyle . Chris . Chris Tyle . JazzStandards.com . 2009-05-18.
  2. Web site: Jazz History: The Standards (Early Period) . Tyle . Chris . Chris Tyle . JazzStandards.com . 2009-06-18.
  3. Web site: When the Saints Go Marching In . Burlingame . Sandra . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  4. Web site: Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  5. Web site: Chinatown, My Chinatown . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  6. https://www.esm.rochester.edu/sibley/files/John-J-Serry-Sr-Collection.pdf Eastman School of Music - University of Rochester - Sibley Music Library: John J. Serry Sr. Collection "John Serry Sextette" Audio recording for RCA Thesaurus of arrangements and performances by John Serry at the RCA Victor Studios in 1954 p. 18-19 The John J. Serry Sr. Collection archived at the University of Rochester
  7. Web site: Some of These Days . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  8. Web site: Alexander's Ragtime Band . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  9. Web site: Memphis Blues . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  10. Web site: Ballin' the Jack . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  11. The Real Book, Volume II, p. 366
  12. Web site: St. Louis Blues . Wilson . Jeremy . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  13. Marshall Cavendish 2003, p. 200
  14. Listed in The Real Jazz Book
  15. Web site: That's a Plenty . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  16. Web site: Accordion Capers. 1947.
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20021107052600/http://www.classicjazzguitar.com/albums/artist_album.jsp?album=747 Accordion Capers - Tony Mottola, John Serry, Joe Biviano, Leone Jump
  18. Web site: 12th Street Rag . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  19. Web site: I Ain't Got Nobody (and Nobody Cares for Me) . JazzStandards.com . 2009-03-18.
  20. The Real Book, Volume III, p. 151
  21. Web site: Weary Blues . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  22. Web site: Beale Street Blues . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  23. Norment . Lynn . June 1981 . Memphis . . 36 . 8 . 120.
  24. Web site: W.C. Handy Biography . Burlingame . Sandra . JazzBiographies.com . 2009-06-14.
  25. Web site: Grammy Awards . Grammy.com . 2009-07-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100204235048/http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx . 2010-02-04 .
  26. Web site: Darktown Strutters Ball . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  27. Web site: [{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p59727|pure_url=yes}} Shelton Brooks biography ]. Arwulf . Arwulf . . 2009-06-15.
  28. The Real Book, Volume II, p. 201
  29. Listed in The Real Vocal Book
  30. Web site: Back Home Again in Indiana . Wilson . Jeremy . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  31. The Real Book, Volume III, p. 340
  32. Web site: Harry Williams Biography . Burlingame . Sandra . JazzBiographies.com . 2009-06-18.
  33. Web site: Rose Room . Tyle . Chris . Chris Tyle . JazzStandards.com . 2009-05-24.
  34. Web site: Tiger Rag . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  35. The Real Book, Volume III, p. 12.
  36. The New Real Book, Volume II, p. 5.
  37. .
  38. Web site: After You've Gone . Wilson . Jeremy . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
  39. .
  40. Book: University, Jeffrey Magee Associate Professor of Musicology Indiana. The Uncrowned King of Swing : Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz. 23 November 2004. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-535814-8. 156–7.
  41. Book: Brooks. Tim. Spottswood. Richard Keith. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919. registration. 2004. University of Illinois Press. 978-0-252-02850-2. 286.
  42. Book: Burke, Patrick Lawrence. "Come in and Hear the Truth": Jazz, Race, and Authenticity on Manhattan's 52nd Street, 1930-1950. 2003. University of Wisconsin--Madison. 230, 350.
  43. Web site: Ja-Da . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
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  49. Web site: Baby Won't You Please Come Home . JazzStandards.com . Burlingame . Sandra . 2009-02-20.
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  52. Web site: Royal Garden Blues . Burlingame . Sandra . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
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  55. Web site: Someday Sweetheart . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
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  59. The Real Book, Volume I, p. 451.
  60. Web site: The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise . JazzStandards.com . 2009-02-20.
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