there's this concept in jazz discipline called "standards." basically theres this pretty big list of songs that every jazz musician is expected to know. during masterclasses or jazz jams people will "call" a standard, lets say, all the things you are, and everyone should just have the chart in their head and should be ready to get going. the point of this is so everyone has a shared reference point and vocabulary for how jazz should sound and what jazz is. you can also compare different recordings of the same song. if youre playing someday my prince will come, maybe you want miles davis' smooth sound—or maybe you want bill evans' more upbeat, sharper sound. both are good. with this list of songs, the "real book" was invented, which is just an easily purchasable spiral bound book with hundreds of charts for convenience of jazz musicians. a shared formatting, a shared song list, a shared chart and transcription (because the way you transcribe music can have errors or be subjective on defining a sound).
standards act as reference points to help you define what jazz is for and what jazz is. the concept of "standards," however, can be pulled anywhere. for cooking, the recipe book in your head are your standards—i can "call" roasted turmeric cauliflower at any time and know exactly how to make it, and can use the concepts and tastes displayed in making roasted cauliflower as a reference for, say, brussel sprouts. for poetry—or moreso spoken word—i have a mental list of poets and individual pieces that inform how i write, perform, and learn. in memoir, i have a list of authors and books that... you get the idea.
in truth, i am not really a jazz musician. i do not aspire to be a jazz musician. i like to say that im a jazz musician by trade, but not in spirit. its just an adjacent community to what i truly want to do, which doesnt have a name, but is probably closer to soul. so i made a list of my own "standards." a "recipe book," i like to call it, that are the songs i hold dear to my heart, and so far are my reference points for what i want music to do—especially my music.
so here's my list of standards—at least right now, in no particular order, credited to the performer, not the composer/writer:
lil too heavy (pj morton)
love o love (nina simone)
you've got to learn (nina simone)
that's all there is to that (dinah washington)
sorry not sorry (tyler, the creator)
asf (trolleycat)
i wish i knew how it would feel to be free (nina simone)
bust your windows (jazmine sullivan)
mountains and molehills (pj morton, piano album)
kid again (pj morton, piano album)
cry (jon batiste)
i need you (jon batiste)
saint james infirmary blues (jon batiste)
tennessee whiskey (tpain/chris stapleton)
the jellyfish song (caroline konstnar)
wonder woman (john legend, solo piano version)
baby (brittany howard)
liz (remi wolf)
all eyes on me (bo burnham)
are you with that (vince staples)
that's life (eva noblezada)
leave the door open (silk sonic)
art is dead (bo burnham)
goodybe (bo burnham)
its over isnt it (steven universe/deedee magno hall)
be wherever you are (steven universe/zach callison)
dont wanna know (bo burnham)
isnt it nice (kat micucci)
rufast daliarg (rene marie)
haute (janelle monae)
never grow old (aretha franklin)
familiar (steven universe/zach callison)
boredom (tyler, the creator)
whoa whoa whoa (watsky)
my way (frank sinatra)
here comes a thought (steven universe/estelle)
thats all of 'em. for now. i could talk about every song on this list for hours. i wanna be able to sit at a piano and have you shout out any one of these and for me to play/perform/live it out for you live. i would type out a "review" of every song here but that would take forever, so if your interested in any of these in particular, comment which one and ill respond with an autistic spiel about it.
also, maybe even leave what YOUR recipe book is—and it doesnt have to just be for music! id love to hear about your watercolor standards, or keystone video games, or what movies are your standards. please tell me about them!!!