My Ideal is a romantic ballad from the Great American Songbook, with music composed by Richard Whiting and Newell Chase and lyrics by Leo Robin. The song dates from the early 1930s, part of the prolific output of Whiting, whose credits also include Hooray for Hollywood, Ain't We Got Fun, and On the Good Ship Lollipop. Written during the peak of the Tin Pan Alley and early Hollywood songwriting era, it features a lyrical, sentimental melody with a verse-chorus form characteristic of popular standards from that period. The tune has maintained a steady presence in the jazz repertoire, attracting interpretations from vocalists and instrumentalists alike, though it is not as ubiquitous as some of the most frequently called Songbook standards. Chet Baker recorded a well-known version, and the tune has appeared in various jazz vocal and piano trio settings over the decades. On AllSolos, transcribed solos come from Stephen Riley's 2019 album I Remember You, a trio session with guitarist Vic Juris and bassist Jay Anderson. Riley's tenor saxophone interpretation brings the tune into a spare, conversational setting that highlights the melody's inherent lyricism while allowing room for harmonically adventurous improvisation, offering a contrast to the song's origins as a Hollywood-era popular ballad.
