about

Standards & Substandards is a playful quartet (vocals, piano, bass, and drums) with roots in jazz and branches reaching out to everything else. The band delights in finding ways to recreate a pop song with a swing rhythm or a blues scale, the more ironic or whimsical the better. And we love to perform classic jazz standards along with the rest of it. We’ll play George Gershwin, Dua Lipa, Stevie Wonder, and Duke Ellington compositions all in a row and just catch our breath long enough to string together an Etta James classic with Radiohead. All the while, we love to work improvisationally off of one another, so even we aren’t exactly sure what’s going to happen next.

The band formed in an improvisational moment as well, a testament to seizing moments when they arise. Children brought us together by accident, and there we were next to a piano and Caryn’s statement that she’d always wanted to play with a jazz ensemble. And now here we are, playing gigs and recording our music and having a good time. If you’d like to hear more of us, follow us around, or book us for an event, look us up at https://substandards.band.

Standards & Substandards is:

Caryn Crowley (vocals/diva)
Caryn touts a long list of skills, including teaching history to Adam and Tim’s kids, but at her core she’s always been a vocalist (and diva). Creating Standards & Substandards with the guys helped reignite her passion for music, and she can’t imagine a better way to spend her spare time than jamming in Tim’s basement and playing gigs.

Tim Herzog (bass)

Tim has the expertise to remodel a kitchen, remake a camping trailer, or reform a chemistry teaching lab. He’s also grown up playing bass and has accompanied jazz groups throughout his life, and his fretless bass and playing draw attention for all the right reasons.

Matt Johnson (drums)

Matt came onboard in 2024, already an accomplished musician who sits in as a regular session player for recording sessions and with his own bands of all stripes. He can adeptly swap out rhythms as he’s learned the S&S catalog and new stuff, and he’s happy to nerd out about water quality and GIS in between sets.

Adam Johnston (piano)
Adam turns to a piano to find solace or vent frustration, so practicing and playing S&S gigs makes him a better human being. When he’s not learning riffs and chord changes, he teaches physics and works with teachers in science education.

And:

Ian Marshall (drummer emeritus & founding member)
Ian was among the original membership of the band, founding the quartet and establishing us as a band that could be respectable as a jazz ensemble a late night bar band, and everything in between. We were devastated when he moved away to Oregon, but we’re also really excited for him and his family. And we won’t be surprised when he stops by to visit and sits in just for fun with whatever instrument he happens to have his hands on at the time.