A few weeks ago while I was taking some music classes, I started writing a list of songs that I mostly know, somewhat know, or would like to know.  When I began learning saxophone, a lot of emphasis was placed on reading tunes.  These days I am playing more things by ear and trying to have more to play.

Paul Contos once made up a story about a hypothetical guy who had played third chair trumpet in a symphony for years, but when his friends asked him to play something at home he didn’t have a chart and couldn’t.  Don’t be that guy!

Here’s my growing list (in no particular order):

• Nica’s Dream
• Night in Tunisia
• All Blues
• Green Dolphin Street
• Dolphin Dance
• Freedom Jazz Dance
• Come Candela
• Mambo Inn
• Afro Blue
• Sabor
• St. Thomas
• Billie’s Bounce
• Anthropology
• Fee Fi Fo Fum
• Wave
• Desafinado
• Girl from Ipanema
• Favela
• Four
• Bye Bye Blackbird
• Skylark
• Crazeology
• Bebop
• Sugar
• Midnight Special
• Song For My Father
• Ceora
• Watermelon Man
• Maiden Voyage
• Impressions
• So What
• Scrapple From the Apple
• Moose the Mooch
• Don’t Stop the Carnival
• Harlem Nocturne
• Moanin
• Work Song
• Somewhere Over the Rainbow
• Spain (with intro)
• La Fiesta
• My Funny Valentine
• There is No Greater Love
• Have you Met Miss Jones
• Black Orpheus
• Softly as the Morning Sunrise
• Alone Together
• You and the Night and the Music
• Shadow of Your Smile
• Recordame