There are many lists of jazz standards floating around the internet, all of them are a good guide on what jazz standards one needs to know as a jazz musician. One of my favourite lists is the one at jazzstandards.com because:

• It is quite extensive, 1,000 jazz standards!
• They are ranked according to a particular methodology, so you get an idea of which are the most popular jazz standards recorded (and thus to learn)
• The top 300 jazz standards each have a page of their own, with information on composers, published key, popular jazz recorded versions etc. Quite a useful resource for anyone studying the jazz standards.

For jazz singers, I have put together a subjective sub-list of this jazzstandards.com list, whittling it down to 250 songs. These 250 songs reflect my personal biases of which songs I have in my record collection, have performed most often, and therefore know more intimately than the rest. Also, I have chosen the songs which are more relevant to jazz singers, excluding instrumental tunes written by jazz musicians (Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins et. al.) which were not originally written with lyrics.

Jazz singers and their accompanists, I hope you find this sublist useful! (If you are an instrumentalist, here is a good article recommending the “100 Must Know Jazz Tunes”.)

• A Fine Romance
• A Foggy Day
• After You’ve Gone
• Ain’t Misbehavin’
• All of Me
• All the Things You Are
• All the Way
• Almost Like Being in Love
• Am I Blue
• Angel Eyes
• A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
• April in Paris
• As Time Goes By
• A Time for Love
• At Last
• Autumn Leaves (Les Feuilles Mortes)
• Baby, It’s Cold Outside
• Basin Street Blues
• Baubles, Bangles and Beads
• Beautiful Love
• Besame Mucho
• Bewitched
• Blame It on My Youth
• Blue Moon
• Blues in the Night
• Blue Skies
• Body and Soul
• But Beautiful
• But Not for Me
• Bye Bye Blackbird
• Candy
• Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man
• Can’t We Be Friends
• Caravan
• Cheek to Cheek
• Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)
• China Boy
• Come Rain or Come Shine
• Comes Love
• Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)
• Cry Me a River
• Darn That Dream
• Day By Day
• Days of Wine and Roses
• Deed I Do
• Desafinado
• Dindi
• Do Nothin’ Till You Hear from Me
• Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
• Don’t Go to Strangers
• East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)
• Embraceable You
• Every Day I Have the Blues
• Everything Happens to Me
• Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
• Exactly Like You
• Falling in Love with Love
• Fascinating Rhythm
• Fever
• Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)
• For All We Know
• For Sentimental Reasons
• Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You
• Georgia on My Mind
• Get Happy
• God Bless the Child
• Goin’ Out of My Head
• Gone with the Wind
• Good Morning Heartache
• Have You Met Miss Jones
• Hello Dolly
• Here’s That Rainy Day
• Honeysuckle Rose
• How Deep Is the Ocean?
• How High the Moon
• How Insensitive
• How Long Has This Been Going On?
• I Ain’t Got Nothin’ but the Blues
• I Can’t Get Started (with You)
• I Can’t Give You Anything but Love
• I Can’t Stop Loving You
• I Could Write a Book
• I Fall in Love Too Easily
• If I Should Lose You
• If I Were a Bell
• I Get a Kick Out of You
• I Get Along Without You Very Well
• I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good)
• I Got Rhythm
• I Left My Heart in San Francisco
• I’ll Be Seeing You
• I’m a Fool to Want You
• I’m Beginning to See the Light
• I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
• In a Mellotone
• In a Sentimental Mood
• In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
• I Remember You
• I Should Care
• Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?
• It Could Happen to You
• It Don’t Mean a Thing
• It Had to Be You
• I Thought About You
• It Never Entered My Mind
• It’s Only a Paper Moon
• I’ve Got a Crush on You
• I’ve Got the World on a String
• I’ve Got You Under My Skin
• I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face
• I’ve Never Been in Love Before
• I Wish You Love
• I Won’t Dance
• Jeepers Creepers
• Just Friends
• Just in Time
• Just You, Just Me
• Kansas City
• Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)
• Let’s Fall in Love
• Like Someone in Love
• Li’l Darlin’
• Look for the Silver Lining
• Love Is Here to Stay
• Love Letters
• Love Me or Leave Me
• Lover Come Back to Me
• Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)
• Love Walked In
• Lullaby of Birdland
• Mack the Knife
• Makin’ Whoopee
• Manhattan
• Mas Que Nada
• Mean to Me
• Meditation
• Misty
• Mood Indigo
• Moonglow
• Moonlight in Vermont
• Moonlight Serenade
• Moon River
• More
• My Baby Just Cares for Me
• My Favorite Things
• My Foolish Heart
• My Funny Valentine
• My Heart Belongs to Daddy
• My One and Only Love
• My Romance
• My Shining Hour
• My Ship
• Nature Boy
• Never Let Me Go
• Nice Work If You Can Get It
• Night and Day
• Night in Tunisia
• No Moon At All
• On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)
• On a Slow Boat to China
• One Note Samba
• On Green Dolphin Street
• On the Street Where You Live
• On the Sunny Side of the Street
• Out of Nowhere
• Over the Rainbow
• Pennies from Heaven
• Perdido
• Perfidia
• Polka Dots and Moonbeams
• Poor Butterfly
• Red Sails in the Sunset
• Route 66
• Satin Doll
• Secret Love
• September in the Rain
• Shiny Stockings
• Since I Fell for You
• Skylark
• Smile
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
• Softly As in a Morning Sunrise
• So in Love (Am I)
• Solitude
• Somebody Loves Me
• Someday My Prince Will Come
• Someone to Watch Over Me
• Sometimes I’m Happy
• Speak Low
• Star Dust
• Stella By Starlight
• Stompin’ At the Savoy
• Stormy Monday Blues
• Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin’ All the Time)
• Straighten Up and Fly Right
• Summertime
• S Wonderful!
• Take Five
• Take the “A” Train
• Taking a Chance on Love
• Teach me Tonight
• Tea for Two
• Tenderly
• That’s All
• The Girl from Ipanema
• The Glory of Love
• The Lady Is a Tramp
• The Look of Love
• The Man I Love
• The More I See You
• The Nearness of You
• There Is No Greater Love
• There Will Never Be Another You
• These Foolish Things
• The Shadow of Your Smile
• The Song Is You
• The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
• The Thrill Is Gone
• The Very Thought of You
• The Way You Look Tonight
• They Can’t Take That Away from Me
• They Say It’s Wonderful
• This Can’t Be Love
• Thou Swell
• Time After Time
• Too Late Now
• Two Sleepy People
• Undecided
• Unforgettable
• Walkin’ My Baby Back Home
• Watch What Happens
• Wave
• We’ll Be Together Again
• What a Difference a Day Made
• What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life
• What a Wonderful World
• What’s New?
• When I Fall in Love
• When You Wish Upon a Star
• Where or When
• Willow Weep for Me
• Witchcraft
• Work Song
• You Are My Sunshine
• You Are Too Beautiful
• You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To
• You Don’t Know What Love Is
• You Go to My Head
• Young and Foolish
• Young At Heart