Hearing Double: Jazz, Ontology, Auditory Culture

When we talk about a jazz "standard" we usually mean one of the many songs that jazz musicians repeatedly play as part of their core repertoire. But unlike musical works in the tradition of so-called classical music, standards--whether plucked from the "Great American Songbook" or from recordings by other jazz musicians--are always being transformed in performance. They are rearranged and improvised upon, given new chords and altered melodies. These transformations might be small and seemin...