TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Jazz standards are the songs every jazz musician knows—the shared language of the genre. But those standards didn’t all come from jazz.
Many began as Broadway tunes and pop ballads from the Great American Songbook— like "All the Things You Are," "My Funny Valentine," or "Summertime." Jazz artists transformed these melodies, adding swing, reharmonizing chords, and turning simple tunes into vehicles for deep expression.
In the bebop era, standards evolved again. Musicians like Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk wrote new, challenging pieces, sometimes using familiar chord changes but demanding more from players. These became the latest standards.
Today, the tradition continues. Jazz musicians reinterpret rock, soul, and even hip-hop, ever expanding the standard repertoire.
Jazz standards are living things - reimagined and redefined with every generation.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.