New Jazz Guitar Duo - Initial Setlist

[Tom Karol]

I recently met a fellow Jazz guitarist. He's old like me and lives close by. We're getting together this week to initiate a duo for fun and possible profit. Here's our initial list of tunes to work on:

1. All Blues - G
2. All The Things You Are - Ab
3. Autumn Leaves - Em
4. Blue Bossa - Cm
5. Blue Monk - Bb
6. Green Dolphin Street - C
7. Night and Day - C
8. So What - Dm (Dorian)
9. Summertime - Am
10. Take the A Train - C

I'm psyched!

[BenThayer]

That's a great start, Tom! Throw in "Fly Me To The Moon", too. It's kinda right in there.

[Tom Karol]

Yep, it was on my list:
1. All Blues (Miles Davis) – G
2. All The Things You Are – Ab
3. Autumn Leaves – Em
4. Birds and the Bees (Attila Zoller) – Am
5. Blue Bossa – Cm
6. Bluesette – G (or Bb)
7. D Natural Blues (Wes) – D
8. Days of Wine and Roses – F
9. Fly Me To The Moon – C
10. Georgia – F
11. Girl From Ipanema – F
12. Green Dolphin Street – C
13. Here’s That Rainy Day – G
14. Hymn To Freedom (Oscar Peterson) – C
15. I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart (Duke Ellington) – Db
16. Kay Bee (Attila Zoller) – Gm
17. Lil’ Darlin’ (Neal Hefti) – F
18. Lullaby of Byrdland – Em
19. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy – Bb
20. Misty – Eb
21. My Funny Valentine – Cm
22. One Note Samba – Bb
23. Over The Rainbow – Eb
24. Pick Yourself Up – F
25. Polkadots and Moonbeams – F
26. Satin Doll – C
27. So What – Dm
28. Someone to Light Up My Life (Jobim) – Bb
29. Summertime – Am
30. Sunny – Dm
31. Tenor Madness (Sonny Rollins) – Bb
32. There Will Never Be Another You – Eb
33. Things Ain’t What They Used To Be – Ab(?)
34. Watermelon Man – Bb
35. You Are The Sunshine of My Life (S. Wonder) – G

[JakeAcci]

That's great!

With all the stuff we talk about on this board, it's easy to escape the fact that if you want to play jazz, the most important thing once you have some fundamentals is to be playing with other people as often as possible.

[Tom Karol]

Yes Jake! I can play OK solo. I've got about 2 hours of material I can perform alone. But I much prefer playing in small groups. I really enjoy the communication and interplay and having the whole end up being more than the sum of the parts. I already play with a keyboard/sax player, with a few singer/songwriters, and in a semi-active 'classic' rock band. But my favorite format is the guitar duo. This guy came over to buy my Henriksen Tweetey a few weeks ago. We played a few tunes together and really listened to and supported each other. (My son - a prog rock drummer - said we sounded really good together.) I'm really looking forward to the collaboration!

[BenThayer]

Tom,

I have really enjoyed this thread. Probably more than most, because it has brought the "real" back into view. I'm new to jazz, but "seasoned" in other stuff. (If I had spent as much time on the fingerboard as I had on other things, well, I'd be the guy on Wikipedia and you all would be wondering what kind of strings I use. LOL!! ) and it's been very good for me to try out your playlist - to the point where I'm learning lots of things - and not all are about technique. Your setlist is interesting because it's interesting to a wide audience. There are songs that are relatively esoteric jazz songs, and also "Ipanema" and "You Are The Sunshine..." which most adult audiences can sing to. Not to forget your standards which can satisfy both segments.

A seasoned musician told me thirty years ago that jazz is the most selfish style of music, because, well, bluntly, nobody in the audience can hum along. Hell, not even the beret guys! Your list has the ability to satisfy a diverse audience. Bravo! Thanks for the reminder and inspiration.

Cheers,

Ben

[augusjazz]

Excellent playlist.
I hope you can save some so we can hear them play together.

[Tom Karol]

Thanks! There's a lot of nice pop songs that make good platforms for jazz improvisation. After all, most of the 'standards' were originally pop tunes. In another duo (guitar & keyboard/sax) that plays mostly at senior living places, we also throw in a few pop/rock 'classics' from the 50's and 60's (Sleepwalk, Hello Mary Lou, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, a Beatles song or two, and even a Stones song here and there). A lot of people seem to relate to Jazzy playing if they a least know the actual tune (as long as you state the melody in a nicely-arranged way before improvising on it). A good song is a good song!

[fep]

Originally Posted by Tom Karol

Thanks! There's a lot of nice pop songs that make good platforms for jazz improvisation. After all, most of the 'standards' were originally pop tunes. In another duo (guitar & keyboard/sax) that plays mostly at senior living places, we also throw in a few pop/rock 'classics' from the 50's and 60's (Sleepwalk, Hello Mary Lou, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, a Beatles song or two, and even a Stones song here and there). A lot of people seem to relate to Jazzy playing if they a least know the actual tune (as long as you state the melody in a nicely-arranged way before improvising on it). A good song is a good song!

Good jazz duet beatles songs:

And I love her - bossa

Here There and Everywhere

[Tom Karol]

... If I Fell, I'll Follow The Sun, In My Life, Something, and the ubiquitous Yesterday, etc. - they did write more than a few good ones!

[Tom Karol]

Update - our list has morphed into this:
All The Things You Are - Ab
Autumn Leaves - Em
Black Orpheus – Am
Blue Bossa - Cm
Blue Monk - Bb
Bluesette – Bb
Cherokee – Bb
Dream - F
Equinox – Cm
Fly Me To The Moon – C
Green Dolphin Street - C
Minor Swing – Am
Misty – Eb
Night and Day - C
One Note Samba - Bb
Over The Rainbow – Eb
Polkadots And Moonbeams – F
Summertime - Am
Take the A Train – C
There Will Never Be Another You – Eb