Experienced jazz musicians are expected to learn 200-300 compositions that make up the foundation of the jazz repertoire. Some of these songs are from the Great American Songbook, others made their debut in musical theater, others were introduced by pop singers and adapted by the jazz world and still others were written by important jazz musicians themselves. In the Fall semester of 2022 we explored 24 such standards. Each week we listened to 5-7 versions of three jazz standards performed by different artists from the early 1950s to the present. These different interpretations were performed by vocalists and instrumentalists.

For this semester we will continue that journey with another 24 songs performed by an array of musicians. We will introduce you to the composers who’s creative minds produced songs that continue to be reinterpreted and refreshed by diverse musicians. We will listen to several renditions of tunes by composers ranging from Cole Porter to Herbie Hancock among others.