A great part of playing jazz is meeting up with strangers, semi-acquaintances, good friends - it doesn't really matter - and improvising for hours on end. Doing this with no particular direction, when you don't really know one-another's compositions won't produce the best results, and will get wearing after a short while.
So, we have lead sheets.
A lead sheet (pronounced 'leeeed' sheet, it's not a 'led' sheet you'd put on your roof) is just one page which gives the reader, at a glance, the 'theme' or melody of a particular piece, with the underlying chord changes. This differs from classical sheet music in that it's just a guide, a structure - rather than an explicit declaration of what is to be played. Here's an example:
Click to embiggen
Now, the problem with lead sheets, as with guitar tabs and most music that's scribbled down and passed amongst friends is...copyright violation. I'm fairly sure that the person who jotted down the above didn't have a contract with Sonny Rollins, and that Mr. Rollins won't get a payment for every person you looks at it.
This normally doesn't bother me when it comes to grabbing the occasional sheet - but I recently decided to go and purchase The Real Book (6th Edition), a collection of 500 lead sheets.
However, upon reading many comments from people who had bought the above, I discovered something. This '6th edition' is, in fact, the first legitimate edition around. The previous 5 were just bootlegs that musicians would copy and share amongst friends. This edition's fully licensed and copyright-friendly...and rubbish.
Really, really rubbish.
It even has the same cover as all the old pirate editions. Wonder if the original designer gets paid royalties? I think not.
So, what do I do? Do I take the '6th edition', which builds on 30 years of piracy to make a bit of profit, and satisfies the law..but will get me laughed out of any gig? Or do I go and get myself a copy of the seminal '5th edition', which nets no-one any money, but means I can play the music I love?
Should I really care that this new edition has royalties being paid to Miles Davis (died 1991), John Coltrane (died 1967), George Gershwin (died 1937) and Thelonious Monk (died 1982)? Should I get a copy of the 5th edition, and then send a token payment to the estates/record labels of all 250 or so artists represented therein?
Well, I think the tone of this post conveys my final decision. Contact me if you'd like a copy of the 5th edition.
Hello, world!
Leave a comment, or read the 2 comments so far.
"George Gershwin (died 1937)"
Well, doesn't most music copyright only last 70 years? That's one less estate you'll need to reimburse.
Judging by other comments you've made on the subject, I'd like to think you'll continue using the 5th Edition and find a way to reimburse each estate directly. All 250 minus Gershwin of them. I really should get that and learn some Standards.
And, at 03:34, I still find your blog a source of beauty :)
Very true - seems I'm off the hook for Gershwin.
However, with out of copyright music, the typesetter gains the automatic right to royalties I believe. In this case, some unknown jazz musician from the past 70 years who scribbled on some paper. Hope he takes PayPal.
I'd like to think that too. Perhaps I can share a copy of the book with you, if you'll cover 125 of them, and I cover the other 125?
Manu's playing in Britain next year - we'll go see him.
Post a Comment