Rating: 
Summary: What do you expect from a fake book?
Review: A transcription of Bird's solos. Be fair you are not going to learn jazz by playing the lead lines of a Herbie Hancock song from a fake book. This collection does its job, it gives you a start on learning the melody of many modern jazz standards. From there you must learn how to swing on your own.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the classic
Review: Although filled with lots of songs, many of the classics like "Misty" and "Autumn Leaves" are absent... replaced by songs like "Meet the Flintstones". Also, with two songs (in very small print) per single page, or songs that cross over non-facing pages, you can't read the songs on the bandstand. This book is only good if you've tired of the essential songs and are looking for the unique.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a great book...but
Review: Don't be put off by the other, tepid reviews on this page: this is a great collection. Or I should say, this is half of a great collection. The thing is, you need volume one--the Hal Leonard "Ultimate Jazz Fakebook"--to go with it.If you have them both, you have probably every jazz standard--and then some--that I've ever heard on a record--plus many tunes I have yet to hear anyone play. The way I see it, "Ultimate" has more of the most commonly played songs, while "Real" has the great ones that got left out of the earlier collection, plus a lot of newer stuff. A look at the compser index for "Real" shows a general trend: Lots of Desmond, Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock tunes are in the later book, while most of the Cole Porter and Gershwin stuff in in the earlier book. (Ellington's best known stuff is here, too, about half in the "Ultimate" book and half in the "Real" book.) There is NO duplication between the books. I do my Band-In-A-Box work outs with the chords, and they are just fine, for the most part. I've caught a few errors--no big deal in a collection this vast. I find half of what I play tends to be from the grery volmem, and half from the black. Get em both!
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book...but
Review: Don't be put off by the other, tepid reviews on this page: this is a great collection. Or I should say, this is half of a great collection. The thing is, you need volume one--the Hal Leonard "Ultimate Jazz Fakebook"--to go with it. If you have them both, you have probably every jazz standard--and then some--that I've ever heard on a record--plus many tunes I have yet to hear anyone play. The way I see it, "Ultimate" has more of the most commonly played songs, while "Real" has the great ones that got left out of the earlier collection, plus a lot of newer stuff. A look at the compser index for "Real" shows a general trend: Lots of Desmond, Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock tunes are in the later book, while most of the Cole Porter and Gershwin stuff in in the earlier book. (Ellington's best known stuff is here, too, about half in the "Ultimate" book and half in the "Real" book.) There is NO duplication between the books. I do my Band-In-A-Box work outs with the chords, and they are just fine, for the most part. I've caught a few errors--no big deal in a collection this vast. I find half of what I play tends to be from the grery volmem, and half from the black. Get em both!
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book...but
Review: Don't be put off by the other, tepid reviews on this page: this is a great collection. Or I should say, this is half of a great collection. The thing is, you need volume one--the Hal Leonard "Ultimate Jazz Fakebook"--to go with it. If you have them both, you have probably every jazz standard--and then some--that I've ever heard on a record--plus many tunes I have yet to hear anyone play. The way I see it, "Ultimate" has more of the most commonly played songs, while "Real" has the great ones that got left out of the earlier collection, plus a lot of newer stuff. A look at the compser index for "Real" shows a general trend: Lots of Desmond, Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock tunes are in the later book, while most of the Cole Porter and Gershwin stuff in in the earlier book. (Ellington's best known stuff is here, too, about half in the "Ultimate" book and half in the "Real" book.) There is NO duplication between the books. I do my Band-In-A-Box work outs with the chords, and they are just fine, for the most part. I've caught a few errors--no big deal in a collection this vast. I find half of what I play tends to be from the grery volmem, and half from the black. Get em both!
Rating: 
Summary: ok for practice
Review: I got this book thinking I was gonna learn some real good jazz,but as I played out the tunes and then listened to the recording of the original song,I noticed The chord changes were not correct..what's the use of having a fakebook with the wrong chord changes? This book could be best used as a practice guide rather than a gig book.
Rating:
Summary: Make sure to look at the cover.
Review: I ordered this book thinking I was getting the Bb edition, but it is really the C-edition. And because it is not stated under the return policy as "wrong item shipped" I will be charged for the shipping to return it. Make sure to look at the cover page of any book before buying it because it will not always tell you in the information section of the item.
Rating: 
Summary: *Objective* opinion
Review: I was put off buying this book because of the negative review below and bought "The Ultimate Jazz Fake Book" instead. Having purchased it, I find it places a greater emphasis on older tunes of a swing, dixyland, tin pan alley/show tune gendre, whereas The Real Jazz Book contains a wider scope that does not exclude fusion and modern jazz tunes such as Watermelon man, Take Five, Affirmation, This Masquerade, Mood Indigo, etc. Some of the artists covered include Al DiMeola, Weather Report, Chick Corea, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Steely Dan, Django Reinhardt, to mention a few contrasting examples. While it is true that there are tunes such as the "Mission Impossible" theme and "Meet the Flintstones" in the The Real Jazz Fake Book, I prefer the wider selection of modern styles, all the while expanding on what the Fakebook started. In my opinion, it complements the Fakebook nicely. Get both if possible.
Rating:
Summary: Easy and Portable
Review: This fake book really is very nice. It's small, which means it fits in backpacks, instrument cases, or whatever, and it is very easy to read when being used. It also has a pretty nice selection of music. Of course, it's not going to have everything everyone wants, but what fakebook does?
Rating:
Summary: Easy and Portable
Review: This fake book really is very nice. It's small, which means it fits in backpacks, instrument cases, or whatever, and it is very easy to read when being used. It also has a pretty nice selection of music. Of course, it's not going to have everything everyone wants, but what fakebook does?
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