Since the mid-1970s, almost every jazz musician has owned a copy of the same book. It has a peach-colored cover, a chunky, 1970s-style logo, and a black plastic binding. It’s delightfully homemade-looking—like it was printed by a bunch of teenagers at a Kinkos. And inside is the sheet music for hundreds of common jazz tunes—also known as jazz “standards”—all meticulously notated by hand. It’s called the Real Book. But if you were going to music school in the 1970s, you couldn’t just buy a copy of the Real Book at the campus bookstore. Because the Real Book... was illegal. The world’s most popular collection of Jazz music was a totally unlicensed publication. The full story of how the Real Book came to be this bootleg bible of jazz is a complicated one. It’s a story about what happens when an insurgent, improvisational art form like Jazz gets codified and becomes something that you can learn from a book.
The Real Book
This episode originally aired in April 2021
Roman note: I love this episode. An all time favorite. Pass it along to someone jazzy if so inclined.
518- Mini-Stories: Volume 15
517- The Divided Dial
516- Cougar Town
515- Super Citizens
405- Freedom House Ambulance Service: American Sirens
514- Train Set: Track Two
Articles of Interest: American Ivy
513- The Safety Bicycle
512- Walk of Fame
511- Vuvuzela
510- Wickedest Sound
509- Tale of the Jackalope
508- President Clinton Interviews Roman Mars
507- Search and Ye Might Find
506- Monumental Diplomacy
505- First Errand
504- Bleep!
What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law- The Longest Week
503- Re:peat
502- 99% Vernacular: Volume 3
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