Jazz/Compositions

Purpose of this page

Maintain a list of compositions (or so-called standards) that have been played many times, and that present either numerous spelling variants, or some specific capitalization difficulty (possibly related to a GuessCase quirk).

Unless Artist Intent comes into play (in a few rare cases), jazz track titles should be harmonized according to the composition title variant that have been chosen.

By "chosen", we mean the following:

• a proposed composition title first enter this page in the "To be discussed list"
• after it is discussed, eventually changed and approved by jazz concerned moderators, it enters the main list

The purpose of this page is not to list each and every jazz tune, but should be kept to a reasonnable size, and mention only compositions that meet the criteria mentionned (more than 20 occurences, and a specific difficulty and/or known multiple variants).

This page should be pointed at in moderation notes, and serves as a reasonnably valid authority to justify a track title change, saving time and efforts for both moderators and voters.

Jazz concerned moderators

If you want to participate in these discussions, please add you moderator nick name here (and eventually subcribe to this page ;) ):

• dmppanda

How to determine and propose a composition? (proposed guidelines)

• Gather known variants of the composition
• Check ascap for your composition (be sure you have the one you're looking for, and note the composer(s) name)
• Determine which variant you'll propose for approval using the following rules:
  • Always try to favor ASCAP main entry unless...
  • If the title has a known/widely-used longer variant than the ASCAP main entry (see: "be anything"), use the main ASCAP entry, and complete it with the remaining part enclosed into parenthesis, following usual Capitalization guidelines
  • for abbreviated words (Rockin), favor the variants with a single quote (Rockin')
  • for quoted words or letters ("C" Jam Blues), favor double quotes

• Propose your variant in the list, using a syntax similar to the example
• Wait for discussion, proposed changes, approval
• Rejoice! And go harmonize all the occurences of your title!

Proposed by: dmppanda

Aggreed by:

Discussion:

Compositions list (proposed)

Use the following format to propose a composition:

• Proposed variant
  • Composed by: Composer(s) name
  • Known variants: list of known variants, mispelling, improper capitalization
  • Approved by: dmppanda (<- your nick name), (others will add their name here if they agree)
  • Discussion: if needed, your own additional comments, and of course the following discussion

Actual list:

• Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
  • Ellington/Russel
  • have a lot of variants, with Nothing, Until, 'till, etc
  • dmppanda
  • Although ASCAP main entry is "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me", I prefer the abbreviated Nothin', which seems to be the most widely chosen variant in discographic ressources

• 'Round Midnight
  • Hanighen/Monk/Williams
  • Common variants including eluded leading quote, Round About Midnight, Round 'Bout Midnight, combinations of these, and numerous other...
  • dmppanda
  • Proposed variant is ASCAP main entry. Now, this one is really a problem because IMO Capitalization Styleguide doesn't address clearly how we should capitalize the R. Wether we need to wait for a decision on this front, or decide a variant for this title, whatever the common rule is, is yet to be discussed.

• Bei mir bist Du schön
  • Cahn/Chaplin/Jacobs/Secunda
  • Systematically murdered (Be Mir Bist Du Shoen is a common weapon...)
  • dmppanda
  • No discussion needed IMO. Just write it properly.

• Ain't Misbehavin'
  • Brooks/Razaf/Waller
  • Most common variant goes Ain't Misbehaving
  • dmppanda
  • First noticed by moderator claiborne. ASCAP main entry proposed.

• "C" Jam Blues
  • Ellington
  • Common variants without the double quotes, or with a dash, or with single quotes
  • dmppanda

• Take the "A" Train
  • Strayhorn
  • variants with or without single quotes, plus GuessCase still at that time fails to lowercase "the"
  • dmppanda

• Manoir de mes rêves
  • Reinhardt
  • is french, and as such is murdered and improperly capitalized most time
  • dmppanda
  • Just like that...

• I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)
  • Ellington AFAIK
  • variants include shorter form, eluded parenthesis, improperly capitalized "And"
  • dmppanda
  • Main ASCAP is the shorter form, proposing the extended form according to guide

• Stompin' at the Savoy
  • Goodman
  • variants include "Stomping" and improper capitalization
  • dmppanda
  • First noticed by moderator claiborne.

• A-Tisket, A-Tasket
  • Alexander
  • numerous variants, without "-", capitalisation, without the comma
  • dmppanda

• Oh, Lady be Good
  • Gerschwin
  • numerous variants, including "!" after the "Oh" and/or appended to the title
  • dmppanda
  • IMO the more common choice in discographic ressources

• 'S Wonderful
  • Gerschwin
  • numerous variants, S', S, Wunderful...
  • dmppanda
  • I'm not really sure about the uppercased S, as it should be the shorten form of It's...

• One O'Clock Jump
  • Basie
  • Variants with a space after the O', improper cap, eluded O', etc, etc
  • dmppanda

• Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
  • Ellington
  • Same kind of variants as for the "Tasket" title, plus impropely capped "And"
  • dmppanda

Compositions list (yet in the cooker)

• "D & E" or "D and E"?