Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Volume 91: Players Choice: Book & Online Audio

Volume 91 anchors itself in songs that have proven their worth across decades of jazz performance and recording. The repertoire itself teaches arrangement, comping, and solo strategy because these tunes carry the weight of countless recorded versions; your students learn not just the melody and harmony but the musical logic behind why these pieces endure. The rhythm section track features Mark Levine, Rufus Reid, and Barry Ries, which means your students are practicing against the same caliber of musicianship they'll encounter at jam sessions and professional gigs.

These eleven tunes carry the warmth of time-tested material. From the balladic intimacy of A Child Is Born to the bebop energy of Our Delight and Bernie's Tune, the collection moves through moods and harmonic territory that feels both familiar and rich with possibility. Playing along with Levine, Reid, and Ries creates the sensation of joining a working group where the rhythm section listens to you and responds, turning solitary practice into genuine conversation.

Intermediate to advanced jazz musicians across all instruments who want to deepen their understanding of standards through repeated exposure to professional-level accompaniment. Ensemble directors preparing students for jazz combos, jazz bands, or competitive jazz festivals will find this collection essential repertoire that students recognize from live performances and recordings. Educators building a jazz curriculum need this volume because it represents the core tunes that appear in jam sessions, auditions, and professional jazz settings.

• Listen to multiple recorded versions of these standards before your first playthrough. Hearing how different soloists approach the same tune gives you stylistic context and builds your vocabulary for what's possible over the changes.
• Spend time with the lead sheet away from the recording. Write out the changes in multiple keys if you plan to play them in transposition, and identify the harmonic movements that appear in several tunes so you begin recognizing common patterns.
• Work the ballad and uptempo versions of Limehouse Blues separately. The medium tempo version teaches you phrasing in a more relaxed setting; the fast version demands precision with your articulation and time feel.
• Use the rhythm section track as your bandmate, not your crutch. Play along multiple times with the same tune, and in later playthroughs, challenge yourself to create solos that reference the melody or interact with specific harmonic landmarks rather than simply filling the chorus.

Assign one tune per week in a jazz ensemble or combo setting, using the recorded track as a rehearsal tool when you lack a full rhythm section. Program these standards in recitals or jazz concerts alongside contemporary pieces to show the continuity of jazz language across generations. For solo study, students preparing for jazz auditions or all-state jazz bands should spend four to eight weeks cycling through this volume as their primary playalong resource, which builds comfort with the harmonic language they'll encounter in real audition settings.

• Navigating chord changes across multiple harmonic landscapes (ii-V-I progressions, tritone substitutions, modal interchange)
• Maintaining consistent time feel and pocket against a professional rhythm section
• Transcribing and adapting melody and harmonic ideas across different song forms and tempos
• Building solo vocabulary through repeated exposure to the same changes in multiple keys and tempos
• Understanding the relationship between melody, harmony, and rhythm in standards-based repertoire
• Developing style-specific articulation, phrasing, and interpretation in medium-to-uptempo swing and ballad contexts