What Is a Jazz Standard? The Two Kinds of Tunes Every Jazz Guitarist Plays
A jazz standard is a tune the whole jazz community agrees to know. Standards split into two families: show tunes borrowed from movies and Broadway that carry lyrics, and jazz standards written as instrumentals by jazz musicians themselves. Knowing the difference tells you where the repertoire came from — and what to learn first.
es Montgomery Write His Own Blues? Four Tunes That Teach the Whole SystemWhy Did W
Wes Montgomery didn't just play the blues — he wrote his own: Cariba, The Thumb, Fried Pies, West Coast Blues. Each tune distills one side of his system — the sound, the line, the voice — and the jazz-waltz West Coast Blues ties them together.