**** Maybe only after having your peers play your song(s) many times will a pieceor body of music be then considered to be a jazz "standard". ****
That’s exactly right. It becomes a jazz “standard” because players like to play a certain tune and the tune becomes part of the jazz lexicon over time. Not all tunes lend themselves to jazz interpretation nor are they necessarily good vehicles for jazz improvisation. Players like tunes with a good melody, but also with interesting harmonic changes that have a certain musical logic to them. Or, as in the case of modal jazz (KOB), they have a “simplicity” or economy of harmonic movement that, in a way, opens up more possibilities to the improviser as he is not bound to the constantly changing harmonic backdrop. At the other end of the spectrum, sometimes players simply like the challenge of a tune like “Giant Steps” which, more than anything, is a test of a player’s ability to “think” VERY quickly on his feet with its very fast changing harmonies.
That’s exactly right. It becomes a jazz “standard” because players like to play a certain tune and the tune becomes part of the jazz lexicon over time. Not all tunes lend themselves to jazz interpretation nor are they necessarily good vehicles for jazz improvisation. Players like tunes with a good melody, but also with interesting harmonic changes that have a certain musical logic to them. Or, as in the case of modal jazz (KOB), they have a “simplicity” or economy of harmonic movement that, in a way, opens up more possibilities to the improviser as he is not bound to the constantly changing harmonic backdrop. At the other end of the spectrum, sometimes players simply like the challenge of a tune like “Giant Steps” which, more than anything, is a test of a player’s ability to “think” VERY quickly on his feet with its very fast changing harmonies.