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Hello, jazz people.
We looked at Gone With the Wind in May 2014 (!), so our standard for Mar 2026 will be Old Folks (Willard Robison, Dedette Lee Hill, 1938).
Background:
Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Old Folks)
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02-28-2026 03:37 PM
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Quite a pretty tune. I've done a few versions over the years but this is the most recent. I quite like this one.
This tune isn't about elderly people but about one person in particular nicknamed 'Old Folks' who fought in the American Civil War and all that. Here's a chart with lyrics that describes it:
I was going to notate my version out for budding geniuses to study for their PhD's but modesty forbade. After a struggle, naturally.
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What is the meaning of predicating the standard of the month being chosen because of one decades ago?
Originally Posted by M-ster
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It's the way M-ster does it. He doesn't repeat tunes we've had before. It's quick and makes posting them logical and ordered. Also, he doesn't post his own music here any more so he's doing us a favor. He checks the list and posts the next one that hasn't been done.
If it wasn't that way it would all be fairly chaotic with everybody chiming in with their requests, etc, and he'd spend far too much time on it.
Also, none of the threads are ever regarded as closed. Anyone, if they like an already-done one, can post their version right now on that thread. It'll show on the newest posts list and people can view it. If they want to... they don't really respond much to the ones that are posted!
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I mean he's doing us a favor keeping the threads up, I don't mean he's doing us a favor not posting his own music!he doesn't post his own music here any more so he's doing us a favor.
He's actually very good
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Not sure but I do think that some of the old classic tunes should be repeated - their threads revived. They are over 10 years old now and few if any forum members who participated in the threads are still around. Originally Posted by Strat-itis
That bad, huh? Originally Posted by ragman1
Last edited by Mick-7; 03-09-2026 at 10:31 PM.
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I still have no clue why the fact that Gone with the wind was done in May 2014 means we're doing Old folks in March 2026..
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Because one begins with G and the other one begins with O.
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The person in line behind me spent $24.01 therefore our standard for April 2026 will be Laura.
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No, that good. M-ster is a very good player and said he wanted to go off and do his own thing elsewhere. But for some reason he said he'd keep these threads alive every month, and he has, religiously. Originally Posted by Mick-7
That bad, huh?
You (plural) are still not getting the fact that if it was left to people here it would have died a long time ago, just like all the other efforts we've tried to manage ourselves. No one wants to do it, at least not consistently.
Don't knock it, it's a gift whether it's recognised as one or not.
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As I recall, the list is based on the tunes on the ‘jazzstandards’ website, possibly the top 500 standards in chronological order or something like that. However some of the tunes were done before in a similar thread, so they are omitted this time round. So Old Folks was probably just the next one on the website list after Gone with the wind. Originally Posted by Strat-itis
I think there were some ‘sticky’ posts which listed all the tunes done so far, or something like that.
To be honest, I haven’t really followed it that much for a while so this is just my recollection. Have to admit some of these old standards don’t interest me as much as they used to.
I might actually do Old Folks though, as I used to do a chord-melody version years ago which I kind of based on a Kenny Burrell track (if I can still remember it!)
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The top 1,000. They appear by year, by name, and by rank. I'm not sure how the ranking works but that's the list M-ster uses. I think the top 300 are marked with a star and he also uses that. Originally Posted by grahambop
I got confused between name and ranking when I said G before O. Naturally the ranking is not alphabetical which explains the apparently random appearance. But it so happens that Gone With The Wind does come before Old Folks on the ranking list so I got lucky :-)
This is the site so if one wants to jump the gun one can start practising the next tunes ad infinitum. But I've found that it never feels the same unless the tune is actually named and posted on the thread. It sort of changes the dynamic or something.
Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals Contents
As we know, the usual exhortation is 'play tunes' and that's a good reason I personally do this every month. There are many I don't know but they all teach you something. Anyone can play tunes-u-like but I don't think one's going to learn much that way.
The next one is 'Three Little Words' and I've never heard of it in my life :-)
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Looked it up. Too fast. I wonder how it'll sound at 120?
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There are, and M-ster doesn't repeat them if they're on the list. As I said, it would get a bit chaotic otherwise.I think there were some ‘sticky’ posts which listed all the tunes done so far, or something like that.
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Originally Posted by grahambop
>> Practical Standards Song List and Index Originally Posted by ragman1
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Plus, of course, your own magnificent up-to-date contributions. Lest we forget.
Practical Standards Song List and Index
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This one? Originally Posted by grahambop
Kenny Burrell - Old Folks (Transcription)
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Yes that sounds like it. I have the record somewhere.
I play it in F (so a whole tone up from Kenny), I don’t remember changing it like that!
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Old Folks done got the blues! I'm growing fond of this tune. One of these days I'll comp my own backing track like ragman does.
Old Folks - Box.com
By the way, I played this on what may be may the world's cheapest jazz guitar set-up: a $130 Dean Telecaster and an $80 Acoustic G60 amp, both of which I bought from Good Will.
Here's the amp:
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I wouldn't recommend it apart from the fact that it's quick, easy, cheap, and bothers nobody. And everybody hates it which is reassuring :-) Originally Posted by Mick-7
I liked your latest clip for Old Folks, there's feeling there.
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How are you recording your comping that you play over? Originally Posted by ragman1
My recording setup is just a Tascam recorder placed in front of an amp, with the backing track played on a speaker from my pc. And I haven't been finicky about the results, there is involuntary distortion in the recording I posted due to the recording volume being too high (I'll pay more attention to that).
To me, learning a song means knowing it's harmony well enough to play good accompaniment for it, so that would be my incentive to record my own backing track. I just bought a looper but haven't used it yet. As far as canned backing tracks go, I prefer them without piano, just bass and drums, but I could not find one for Old Folks that I liked.
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That singer from the embedded video on M-ster's link above (Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Old Folks)), I just can't...
makes me think of:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=32278313858478593
maybe it sounded fresh back in 2014
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I think she was trying to be Billie Holiday.... and failing at it. Originally Posted by Grigoris
Make that 1934 and you'd be correct. Originally Posted by Grigoris
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I warn you, it's basic. I use Audacity and the computer mike. I sit in front of it and play the changes. It's not the sort of intermittent comping that works with a rhythm section, it's the whole rhythm in itself, as you can hear. Originally Posted by Mick-7
Then, because Audacity supports over-dubbing, I play the lead on top.
Just the sort of thing I'm not doing!My recording setup is just a Tascam recorder placed in front of an amp, with the backing track played on a speaker from my pc. And I haven't been finicky about the results, there is involuntary distortion in the recording I posted due to the recording volume being too high (I'll pay more attention to that).
Well, I admit I'm not trying to learn all these tunes in the sense do them fluently without any sort of sheets in front of me. I either sight read the lead sheet on the screen or jot out the changes myself on a bit of paper. Of course, I've played it all a lot before I try to record it so I'm not struggling with it.To me, learning a song means knowing it's harmony well enough to play good accompaniment for it, so that would be my incentive to record my own backing track. I just bought a looper but haven't used it yet. As far as canned backing tracks go, I prefer them without piano, just bass and drums, but I could not find one for Old Folks that I liked.
I also jot out the basic sounds I want for the solo. They're based on the changes as given but involve a lot of minorization, subs, and the occasional scale (but I don't like scales). It's mostly notated in symbols, like G7+ would be a wholetone scale. Normally the process of working it out is quick with functional harmony but modal stuff takes longer.
Loopers are good for performance but I tend to do it one chorus at a time otherwise it all gets too long, then I edit them together. The exception is videos where I have to play the whole thing through.
I'm not very good with backing tracks either, even if I had all the equipment. I usually find the piano playing intrusive and just bass and drums a bit basic and unmusical. I like to hear the changes properly otherwise I've nothing to connect to. I'm definitely a connector, I can't play in a vacuum.
Best of luck with it. Keep it simple is what I say. You can always mess it up later. I do
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I've been meaning to try Audacity, I have a good usb microphone (which unfortunately I cannot use with the Tascam recorder).
Yes, they are, I figure it is my job to make it musical, but they have to at least swing, most of the canned bass & drum backing tracks do not. Thanks. Originally Posted by ragman1
This tune has interesting chord changes, some of the dominant chords are altered in the Real Book chart, and not always in a good way.
Old Folks
A-1: | Em7b5 - A7 | Dm7-Db7-Cm7-F7 | Bb^7 - Eb7 | Am7 - D7 | Gm7 - C7 | Am7b5 - D7 | G7 | Gm7 - C7 |
A-2: | Em7b5 - A7 | Dm7-Db7-Cm7-F7 | Bb^7 - Eb7 | Am7 - D7 | Gm7 - C7 | Am7b5 - D7 | Gm7 - C7 | F^7 ||
B: | Cm7 | F7 | Bb^7 | Eb7 | F^7 - Em7b5-A7 | Dm7 | G7 | Gm7 - C7 ||Last edited by Mick-7; 03-10-2026 at 09:35 PM.
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