Product Description

The Real Books are the best-selling jazz books of all time. Since the 1970s, musicians have trusted these volumes to get them through every gig, night after night. The problem is that the books were illegally produced and distributed without any copyrights or royalties paid to the master composers who created these musical canons. Hal Leonard is very proud to present the first legitimate and legal editions of these books ever produced. You and your customers won't even notice the difference...the covers look the same, the engravings look the same, the songlist is nearly identical, and the price remains fair even on a musician's salary! But every conscientious musician and music store owner will appreciate that these books are now produced legally and ethically, benefitting the songwriters that we owe for some of the greatest music ever written! 400 songs, including: All Blues * Au Privave * Autumn Leaves (Les Feuilles Mortes) * Black Orpheus * Bluesette * Body and Soul * Bright Size Life * Con Alma * Dolphin Dance * Don't Get Around Much Anymore * Easy Living * Epistrophy * Falling in Love with Love * Footprints * Four * Four on Six * Giant Steps * Have You Met Miss Jones? * How High the Moon * I'll Remember April * Impressions * Lullaby of Birdland * Misty * My Funny Valentine * Oleo * Red Clay * Satin Doll * Sidewinder * Stella by Starlight * Take Five * There Is No Greater Love * Wave * and more!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3667 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Plastic Comb
• 462 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780634060380
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Great music, may become the new standard for gigs!
Take note, this book contains no lyrics, thankfully.

Like many musicians I have owned a copy of the, "Real Book 5th Edition" for a long time. I use it at rehearsals, I take it to gigs, and over years of use it has received a lot a wear and tear. As you may know the, "Real Book 5th Edition" is a home made publication, it is not available to the general public it is sold by musicians to musicians. Consequently finding a copy is very difficult, and replacing a worn out copy is just as difficult. Despite its limited availability it is used by musicians all over the world and has become a standard piece of equipment any jazz gig.

Hal-Leonard's "Real Book 6th Edition", at first glance, appears to a fully licensed duplicate of the, "Real Book 5th Edition" however, it is NOT.

The cover is the same, the type set is the same, many of the songs are the same, and most of the keys match the, "Real Book 5th Edition." Unfortunately, many important songs are missing including: "Gentle Rain", "Pennsativa", "Green Dolphin St.", "Days of Wine & Roses", "Spain", "A Foggy Day", and all frank Zappa songs. Some great songs have been added including: "Whispering", "Nuage", "Topsy", "That's Amore", "Easter Parade", "When You Wish Upon a Star", and many more. A few songs appear in a different key than the, "5th Edition" including: "Windows" and "Here's That Rainy Day." There are also some corrections including: "Blue Train" changed from Cm blues to Eb blues; "Equinox" changed from Cm to C#m; the chords to "Four" have been 'corrected'; the bass lines of "So What" and "Maiden" have also been corrected.

The result of Hal-Leonard's efforts gives us a great fake book which is easy to read and easy to buy. The song selection is great, but it is different form the, "5th Edition" this will present a problem when someone on a gig calls, "Conference of the Birds" or any other song not in this book.

What made the, "Real Book 5th Edition" a standard for so many years was the fact that it was one of a kind. Each song had it's own page, the type set was large and clear, the chords were simple and to the point, the songs listed were ones that musicians played, and the arrangements were streamlined (but accurate), for years this was the only book that used this style.

Today, however, many fake books published by Warner Brother, Sher Music, and Hal-Leonard use this style. Consequently great music and quality arrangements are easily accessible to all musicians. There is no longer a need for the, "Real Book 5th Edition" it has been replaced by fully legal and more accurate publications. Hal-Leonard's, "Real Book 6th Edition" is another one of the new generation fake books.

I hope all the songs missing from the, "Sixth Edition" appear in books 2 or 3 which are due out soon.

More Legal and More Useful
This "sixth edition" is a welcome sight. At this price it's more affordable to musicians, and you don't need to feel like you're buying some pot from the music store by asking for it in hushed tones.

The differences between this and the bootleg fifth edition Real Book are substantial - many tunes are incompatable between the two, so you cannot mix the books as you could with older editions of the Real Book. But as this new one contains the correct changes and forms (including those notorious missing 4 bars in Desafinado, the correct changes for Dolphin Dance, and the omission of the mystery "turnaround" we've long ignored in the 4th bar of the bridge of Satin Doll) it's really a better book for new players, and will be enlightening to say the least for veteran players who've been playing these songs wrong all these years.

Not all the songs are here: some, like the Zappa and Sun Ra tunes, obviously were not cleared by the copyright owners; others which never are really played are omitted as well, like "Perfect Love". What replaces them are tunes which are far more useful to the gigging player, classic standards and others which were never in the Real Book but should have been. An internet search will easily turn up the tune list - if you absolutely need the tunes not in there anymore, you're out of luck unless you keep your old copy too.

I don't think the transposed versions are available at this writing. Of course, if you can transpose that's no bother at all. Hopefully they will be out soon. Once they are, this can truly replace the illegal book at about half the cost and with more useful tunes for the player.

No honor among thieves... still ! ! ! !
For years, this underground fake book was THE book you had to have to survive on any professional straight Jazz bandstand... and it was tough to find, not to mention expensive. So underground you had to whisper for it at the counter of only the hippest music shops in town and if no one was looking for thirty bucks or so they'd get you a copy... (I'm not joking !) Then it began floating around the net, and for some reason each time the sites would get shut down... and now finally, a "legit" copy is available. Though perhaps we'll never know the full story of just who exactly wrote it and where he/she/they lived... the fact is that the book (atleast for the time being) is now available... ironically by HAL LEONARD, the publishing company that tended to publish all those other FAKE BOOKS for years that made the REAL BOOK so appreciated (LEONARD's books tend to have great tune selections, but some of the worst changes in the world... in contrast, the REAL BOOK's sheets, though not perfect are usually a safe call when you're called up to blow, also unlike Scher's commercially available THE NEW REAL BOOK they're a lot more practical (i.e. you take one glimpse at the sheet and the form is staring right back at'cha !) - - One more funny ironic point, even if the anonymous author/authors were involved in this project its funny because I guess they'll now be pursuing people who BOOTLEG their books... outlaws joining the system... that's progress for ya !

All in all, books 1 and 2 are essential purchases (I pray 3 will become available too.) I actually tend to play more tunes from Book 2 which includes JEANINE, INDIANA, BYE BYE BLACKBIRD, NEARNESS OF YOU, however REAL BOOK I set the standard of what tunes we should play at our sessions. If there's any fault its the overdependence of musicians on it, to the point that many musicians simply don't learn equally important tunes found outside it (even though it does not include EVERY essential standard, it definitely gives you more than enough to survive...) but the fact is, its must have material... if you don't have it, go out and get it... unless you have a perfect ear and most the tunes already learned and memorized, you can't really call yourself a pro without it and will find yourselves embaressed at most sessions everytime a tune (9 times out of 10 at some sessions) is called from this book !