Take note of Ethan Iverson’s comment on the post regarding fake books below. He has more to say at Do the Math. The point made there that I think we all need to write on the back of our hands is this:

And more practically, those countless standards I learned from cheats have meant much less to me artistically and professionally than a far fewer number of compositions that I really got inside.

It’s always about depth and mindfulness, isn’t it? It’s like I tell my musicianship students, it’s not the number of minutes you practice, it’s how mindful you were when you were practicing.

(Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if you - mindfully - put in a whole lot of stinkin’ minutes…)