New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers | Jazz Songbook All Instruments | Advanced Jazz Sheet Music Book for Students and Professionals | 101 Modern and Classic Works by Women Composers

by Terri Lyne Carrington (Editor)

(Berklee Guide). Terri Lyne Carrington, Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, has curated a wide range of jazz compositions written by women composers, from obscure to popular, historic to current, blues to bebop, and beyond in this important collection. These compositions are supplementary and alternatives to the "jazz standard" canon that has served students, teachers and professionals throughout the development of jazz music. The compositions span nearly a century, including Lil Hardin Armstrong's work from 1922 to songs written in 2021 by recent Institute graduates. It features 101 compositions from a remarkable range of acknowledged titans, young visionaries and unsung heroes in jazz: Mary Lou Williams, Alice Coltrane, esperanza spalding, Geri Allen, Maria Schneider, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Dorothy Ashby, Nubya Garcia, Nicole Mitchell and many others. The book includes a 1922 piece by the influential Lil Hardin Armstrong and songs written in 2021 by emerging artists from Carrington's Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. New Standards also celebrates the global world of jazz, from Chilean tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana to Japanese American pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and other international composers.

184 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2022

Reviews

[Andrew Pitkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the music in this - all these composers should be proud, and are great humans.

However, I disagree with the politicization of Jazz Music - a music that has in the past absorbed political undertones and been subject to political scrutiny and discrimination. But the essential substance of Jazz is that you love your brothers and sisters while you all play together - it's a melting pot for all people and things to be one and socialize through music. As Miles Davis said, "Jazz is social music" - conversation happens within the music when it's performed to high levels.

I just don't like things with self-conscious political pretence. But Carrington's editorial work should be applauded for the separate reason of noting and compiling the works of some phenomenal Musicians - the fact that they are female is secondary to their high level of creativity and prowess.