# The Best Jazz Tunes and Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449 "2006-08-20T15:09:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/1 "2006-08-20T15:09:52Z")
Rather than set some magic number of such things I’m leaving it open to “the best” as an open-ended grouping. I’m leaving it to your discretion as to what constitutes “jazz” since my own definition is murky at best. To start the ball rolling, among my favorites (from as far back as at least the Big Band era up through things I’m hearing in the “new releases” shows on the radio) are: Round Midnight So What Blue in Green Four Brothers Cherokee How High The Moon Are You Going With Me? In A Sentimental Mood Jordu Joy Spring Lullaby of Birdland April in Paris (Basie) There’s just twelve, and I could keep going without a slowdown for at least 50. But why don’t you pitch in some so it’s not just my stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/2 "2006-08-20T15:14:51Z")
**I Got Rhythm** – A good song in its own right, plus the professor of a jazz course I had in college claimed its chord structure was the basis for hundreds of other jazz songs. And speaking of Gershwin, **Summertime**. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/3 "2006-08-20T15:26:42Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] **I Got Rhythm** – A good song in its own right, plus the professor of a jazz course I had in college claimed its chord structure was the basis for hundreds of other jazz songs. [/QUOTE] Indeed. To the point that they’re known simply as “Rhythm Changes.” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/4 "2006-08-20T15:37:42Z")
Anything by Gershwin, anything by Cole Porter. For the latter, specifically _Night and Day_, specifically a version Stan Getz did with Kenny Barron a few months before the former’s death. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/5 "2006-08-20T15:55:56Z")
Brief hijack: Sunday mornings on WMOT are not all that great so I listen to KKJZ and “Chuck Cecil’s The Swinging Years” for the nostalgia mostly. His theme song is a neat tune that I knew I had heard but just couldn’t identify. So I did a web search on “Chuck Cecil Swinging Years Theme Music” and got a hit identifying it as the Harry James instrumental “The Mole.” I did that just a few minutes ago and have a great sense of accomplishment. I may not try to do anything else today until _Deadwood_ comes on. End of hijack ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/6 "2006-08-20T16:10:50Z")
Lonely Woman Naima Willow Weep for Me ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/7 "2006-08-20T16:20:39Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Anything by Gershwin, anything by Cole Porter. For the latter, specifically _Night and Day_, specifically a version Stan Getz did with Kenny Barron a few months before the former’s death. [/QUOTE] So well said. _People Time_ is a fine recording. Mentioning Getz brings to mind: Early Autumn Girl From Ipanema Desafinado Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most Moonlight in Vermont ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/8 "2006-08-20T16:22:17Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Lonely Woman Naima Willow Weep for Me [/QUOTE] Ah, yes. Trane. Giant Steps My Favorite Things A Love Supreme ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/9 "2006-08-20T16:23:48Z")
Anything by Brubeck or Desmond. _Take Five_ at the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/10 "2006-08-20T16:28:51Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Anything by Brubeck or Desmond. _Take Five_ at the top of the list. [/QUOTE] Damn! It’s playing on KKJZ at this very moment. BTW, I agree on the Brubeck/Desmond notion. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/11 "2006-08-20T16:36:26Z")
Here’s a random selection from my 50 favorites: Tempus Fugue It - Bud Powell The Sinister Minister - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Guajira en Azul - Cal Tjader Salt Peanuts - Dizzy Gillespie A Night in Tunisia - (Several good versions, I like the Art Blakey one best) Doodlin’ - Horace Silver Next Exit - Poncho Sanchez Killer Joe - Quincy Joe Song to the Pharoah Kings - Return to Forever St. Thomas - Sonny Rollins Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington Teen Town - Weather Report Moanin’ - Jazz Messengers ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/12 "2006-08-20T16:37:04Z")
It’s too huge a field to only pick a few. Most of Duke Ellington and Cole Porter’s outputs by various artists, of course. Some artists are identified with certain tunes, regardless of who wrote them, such as “Let’s Get Lost” and Chet Baker. Listing all of Ben Webster’s output or Clifford Brown’s stuff would be pointless. Okay, I give up. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/13 "2006-08-20T16:43:52Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] It’s too huge a field to only pick a few. Most of Duke Ellington and Cole Porter’s outputs by various artists, of course. Some artists are identified with certain tunes, regardless of who wrote them, such as “Let’s Get Lost” and Chet Baker. Listing all of Ben Webster’s output or Clifford Brown’s stuff would be pointless. Okay, I give up. [/QUOTE] Chet’s _My Funny Valentine_ must be mentioned as a version that excels. He has a version of _Un Poco Loco_ (Bud Powell’s) on the album where Desmond made his last recording (that I know of) that is one fine cut. One of Brownie’s I really like is _Gertrude’s Bounce_. (Richie Powell wrote it, I think). My favorite Porter is Frank’s version of Nelson Riddle’s arrangement of _I’ve Got You Under My Skin_. The hair stands up on my neck every time! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/14 "2006-08-20T16:51:38Z")
[QUOTE=Rufus Xavier] Here’s a random selection from my 50 favorites: Tempus Fugue It - Bud Powell The Sinister Minister - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Guajira en Azul - Cal Tjader Salt Peanuts - Dizzy Gillespie A Night in Tunisia - (Several good versions, I like the Art Blakey one best) Doodlin’ - Horace Silver Next Exit - Poncho Sanchez Killer Joe - Quincy Joe Song to the Pharoah Kings - Return to Forever St. Thomas - Sonny Rollins Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington Teen Town - Weather Report Moanin’ - Jazz Messengers [/QUOTE] Great list. Made me think of Chick Corea’s _Spain_ which is based on a composition that, in spite of Miles including it on _Sketches of Spain_ and no telling how many others (Hubert Laws, Desmond, Jim Hall to name three) having done versions of their own, doesn’t really quite sit still as a “jazz” tune: _Concierto de Aranjuez_. _Spain_ is just fine. One version with Chick, Bela Fleck, and Bobby McFerrin doing it on a TV show recorded at The Blue Note stands out as a high point of things available on BETJazz. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/15 "2006-08-20T17:14:10Z")
As jazz songs go, it’s hard to top Billy Strayhorn’s complex and difficult to perform _Lush Life_. It takes a hell of a singer to attempt it, and only a very few succeed. But what a song! ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/16 "2006-08-20T17:23:43Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Anything by Brubeck or Desmond. _Take Five_ at the top of the list. [/QUOTE] I could not agree more…throw in UnSquare dance too. tsfr ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/17 "2006-08-20T18:00:32Z")
If we’re going to talk about Brubeck, I have to pimp for the Carnegie Hall album once again. It’s one of the best live albums ever, and some of the best music the quartet ever played. From an updated “Take Five” to “Pennies From Heaven” to Joe Morello’s jaw-dropping drum perfomance on “Castillian Drums”, it’s an essential album for Brubeck fans. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/18 "2006-08-20T18:22:45Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] If we’re going to talk about Brubeck, I have to pimp for the Carnegie Hall album once again. It’s one of the best live albums ever, and some of the best music the quartet ever played. From an updated “Take Five” to “Pennies From Heaven” to Joe Morello’s jaw-dropping drum perfomance on “Castillian Drums”, it’s an essential album for Brubeck fans. [/QUOTE] Not the least quibble. One of the very best Brubeck albums. Another that is a favorite of mine predates the time experimentation albums, but has the Middle Eastern flavor of _Blue Rondo a la Turk_ by way of two exciting tracks: _Nomad_ and _The Golden Horn_. A really fine album: [Jazz Impressions of Eurasia](http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Jazz%20Impressions%20of%20Eurasia:1921104259;_ylc=X3oDMTB1bTRuODM0BF9TAzk2NjMyOTA3BHNlYwNmZWVkBHNsawNtdXNpYw--) I can’t recall the album for sure, but a beautiful tune written by Brubeck is the Japanese flavored _Koto Song_. He and Desmond had a duets album after the group broke up and I believe it’s on there. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/19 "2006-08-20T20:47:31Z")
_Koto Song_ first appeared on [Jazz Impressions of Japan.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005B17V/103-1622037-7586216?v=glance&n=5174) _Take Five, Blue Rondo ala Turk, Unsquare Dance, Forty Days_…all perfect. I got to watch Dave rehearse with an orchestra from backstage before a performance of the full _St. Matthew’s Passion_. The only word to use is **awesome**. Especially when he’d noodle around during breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449/20 "2006-08-20T21:03:18Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] _Koto Song_ first appeared on [Jazz Impressions of Japan.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005B17V/103-1622037-7586216?v=glance&n=5174) _Take Five, Blue Rondo ala Turk, Unsquare Dance, Forty Days_…all perfect. I got to watch Dave rehearse with an orchestra from backstage before a performance of the full _St. Matthew’s Passion_. The only word to use is **awesome**. Especially when he’d noodle around during breaks. [/QUOTE] I wasn’t sure of the Japan album, and didn’t take time to look it up, so thanks. The album I was thinking of is [Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond 1975: The Duets](http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/41050.html?sendroicid=aa2fad5b-792a-4756-b1a2-ff78b6e15f83&sendroikwd=Album) recorded a couple of years before Desmond’s passing. It’s just from memory, but I think the Duets version is more in the Japanese vein, being just Dave and Paul without the rhythm section. Dave uses the plucked strings approach on the piano to simulate the koto and Paul’s alto sounds very Oriental flutelike. A very moody piece. I’m reminded of a Bud Shank & Kimio Eto flute and koto album that is even more authentic sounding. My Brubeck brag is that I saw the quartet (Joe Morello and Gene Wright version) in concert in 1959 or 1960. Can’t be sure of the year. It was electrifying. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-jazz-tunes-and-songs/369449.md?page=2)