Solo for Seniors Setlist

Tom Karol · #1 06-01-2010, 07:55 AM

I've been doing these Jazz Duo gigs (with a keyboard/sax player) at Senior Living Facillities recently - very gratifying. I love the duo format and much prefer it to playing solo, but my partner is busy with a lot of projects and said that if I get a date that he can't make, I should feel free to do it solo. So, here's my solo list for this context (you only play for 45 min to an hour; the audiences seem to enjoy having the year the song was written or first recorded mentioned):

1. Here’s That Rainy Day (1953)
2. All The Things You Are (1939)
3. Moonlight In Vermont (1943)
4. Autumn Leaves (1947)
5. Sleepwalk (1959)
6. Georgia On My Mind (1930)
7. Green Dolphin Street (1947)
8. Jamaica Farewell (1955)
9. Lullaby of Birdland (1952)
10. Misty (1954)
11. Wonderland Night/Stranger on Shore (1961)
12. One Note Samba (1962)
13. Satin Doll(1953)
14. Somewhere Over The Rainbow (1939)
15. Till There Was You (1957)
16. Summertime (1935)

Just thought I'd share.

derek · #2 06-01-2010, 09:41 AM

Great list. One Note Samba might be a little recent for that crowd though. They might let you get away with it, if you added Stompin At The Savoy (1936), or Don't Get Around Much Anymore(1942) to balance it.

BTW, this thread gives me the opportunity to post this wonderful site again, which gives year, composer, and where the tune came from.

Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals Contents

ronjazz · #3 06-10-2010, 01:59 AM

Keep in mind that "that crowd" is now people whose tastes were formed as recently as the late 50s-early 60s. I do some senior gigs in the daytime and among the biggest hits are Beyond the sea and Dream Lover (1959), Elvis, Orbison and Everly Bros. classics, and New York, New York (70s). Stompin At The Savoy and Don't Get Around Much are now considered "old folks" fare to the current old folks. 50 years ago was 1960, and Seniors are officially 65 and up, so One Note Samba is pretty much their timeframe. there is no question from the reactions that I get that today's seniors were coming of age as rock 'n' roll was getting started and swing was winding down. Ipanema is a big favorite, and many of that generation kept listening and finding new favorites well into their 30s. Somebody that was 15 in 1936 is now 89, and certainly is going to enjoy the hits of that era, but most of the senior audiences are a little younger.

Tom Karol · #4 06-10-2010, 12:09 PM

Point taken. Though my Mom is going to be 85, and she gravitates to the Swing Era stuff. Here's the list that we do in this context as a duo:
Sleepwalk
Autumn Leaves
Wonderland By Night / Stranger On The Shore
Walk Don’t Run
Girl From Ipanema
Misty
Satin Doll
I Can’t Help It If I’m Still In Love With You
Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Last Date
One Note Samba
Days of Wine & Roses
Summertime
Tenor Madness