People often refer to a jazz standard as a cover song even though they are not the same thing.
What is the difference when you really think about it and what is so important about it?
Jazz standard
A jazz standard is the same song performed or recorded by literally hundreds of musicians. It is never performed in the same way as the original and there is no attempt to imitate the original singer or band. Instead, each musician interprets it through their own personality. They improvise on the theme to create what is a new arrangement. It can often sound like a new composition with the original melody often used just as a reference.
Cover song
Contrast this with a cover song, which is more usually performed in much the same way as the original.
New recordings of the same song with different artists are often used by copyright owners to keep the song in the public’s ear. This helps to sell more CDs and promote live shows. Artists record covers of already-known songs and stick closely to the original melody. In this way, their audience can get to know them through a familiar tune.
The difference between jazz standard and cover
So, is it simply just a matter of a difference in style? You say potato and I say potahto? The jazz players jazz up a known song, and the cover performers keep to the known song’s original melody? Well, it’s more than that.
Jazz musicians who perform a standard during their live shows are rarely thinking of the commercial side. They are more often thinking of developing the melody, perhaps changing the key. Some musicians might make it more complex, adding new chords that work in a different way. Others might make it simpler and experiment with new tempos and rhythms.
Jazz musicians spin the song’s form off into new vamps, a repetitive groove with improvised melodies. They take improvised solos. Sometimes there is a musical conversation with another band member in a method called trading fours, where each musician plays four bars.
The final result is often unrecognisable as the original melody.
Communal popularity
There’s another important difference; in jazz, a standard only reaches this status when it’s played by a majority of musicians. The reason for this is that jazz musicians get around. They go on tour and record with different artists. For this, they need a common repertoire so they can easily perform with other musicians.
In many cases, time is short, so this common repertoire becomes its own language that is spoken by jazz musicians. This is useful when there is no time for rehearsal or when there’s a jam session. A jam session is another common feature of jazz in which different musicians are spontaneously invited to take the stage and join the band to add their own solos.
Jazz musicians like the well-composed tunes; the strangest songs have made it into the standard repertoire. Songs that are not necessarily the ones that sell well but the ones that sound really good and lend themselves to interesting improvisations.
A great example of this is the song ‘Misirlou/Miserlou’, which originates from the Eastern Mediterranean. This melody is based on the Byzantine scale and is made for improvisation. After the theme was developed by Greek rembetistis Tetos Demetriades in the United States in 1927, it became part of the jazz repertoire.
The Cover
At some point in the 1960s, ‘Misirlou’ was even adopted by the pop and rock communities when bands like The Beach Boys recorded covers that almost echo the recording by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones in the early 1960s.
The Standard
And now listen to a jazz version of ‘Miserlou’, by saxophone player Gilad Atzmon, which takes the theme many steps further:
Long musical memories
So, when a song is adopted by the jazz community, it’s set to last for a long time. It lives in the memory of each new musician to play with the melody, harmony, tempo and rhythm. Songs are adopted into the jazz repertoire from all kinds of genres, from the blues or popular ballads to classical music.
A cover version of a song may only last for as long as the current trend, and be forgotten tomorrow. Unless there is some kind of financial or business gain for a record label or songwriter - say a new version needed for a movie - it’s unlikely to be re-made and released. Literally thousands of songs have come and gone this way throughout pop culture history, enjoyed momentarily and then never to be thought of again.
In conclusion, while both the cover and a standard may be high quality, the jazz standard is a common cultural memory shared and improvised upon. A song that makes it into this repertoire may be changed beyond recognition and will be loved for a long time into the future. A cover version is to be enjoyed for the moment not least because it stays close to an already-familiar recording, while showcasing a new artist’s performance.
Read a list of jazz standards here.
Read more about jazz in Cyprus here.
