New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers

Terri Lyne Carrington, Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, has curated a wide range of jazz compositions written by women composers, from obscure to popular, historic to current, blues to be bebop, and beyond in this important collection. These compositions are supplementary and alternatives to the “jazz standard” canon that has served students, teachers and professionals throughout the development of jazz music. The compositions span nearly a century, including Lil Hardin Armstrong's work from 1922 to songs written in 2021 by recent Institute graduates. It features 101 compositions from a remarkable range of acknowledged titans, young visionaries and unsung heroes in jazz: Mary Lou Williams, Alice Coltrane, esperanza spalding, Geri Allen, Maria Schneider, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Dorothy Ashby, Nubya Garcia, Nicole Mitchell and many others. The book includes a 1922 piece by the influential Lil Hardin Armstrong and songs written in 2021 by emerging artists from Carrington's Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. New Standards also celebrates the global world of jazz, from Chilean tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana to Japanese American pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and other international composers.