The other reviews published here are well earned. My one reservation: whoever arranged the harmonic turnarounds at the end of sections of most of these tunes or at the finish of a tune, used the simple VIm7-IIm7-V7-IMaj7 progression. It seems like the arranger merely "plugged in" these turnaround harmonies. Although these harmonies "work," I would have liked more variety in the harmonies at the turnaround points.

Of all the fake books I have worked with, this is the one I find most easy to use. There are lots of reasons (good spiral binding, nice selection, nice font, etc.) but the most important is that THE CHANGES ARE GOOD! Exactly as the authors claim, they have given the right chord changes for the tunes (both original and recommended variations). The JUST STANDARDS companion volume is good to have as well, for the same reason. When I first started buying fake books (which are expensive!) I wish someone had told me to get this one. It makes learning and playing the tunes much easier. I recommend this very highly.

This volume of jazz tunes was compiled with the musician in mind. I say that because the publishers focused on: a.) accuracy, b.) quality selection, and c.) ease of use. If you're looking for a real or fake book, look no further. This is where to invest wisely.

Here is why this real book differs from the rest:

1.) It is sturdy and spiral bound.
2.) It uses a large JAZZ font for the chords that is easy to see.
3.) The songs are in the ORIGINAL keys.
4.) The selection is excellent.
5.) There is a DISCOGRAPHY included; you can go to the recordings and understand the arrangements it uses.
6.) There is an extra chapter on voicings.

You'll fall in love with the chord changes--so rich and beautiful. I ordered this along with the Just Standards volume, and I can see I'll be using them for a long time.