These Things is an original composition by Doug Webb, built on the chord changes of All The Things You Are by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. As a contrafact, it superimposes a new melody over one of the most enduring harmonic progressions in the jazz repertoire while allowing performers to navigate familiar tonal territory through Webb's own melodic lens. The tune first appeared on Webb's 2016 album Sets the Standard, where it stood as the sole original composition on an otherwise all-standards program. Its placement on that record underscored the continuity between the jazz tradition and Webb's creative voice, demonstrating how a well-crafted contrafact can sit comfortably alongside canonical material. Webb's writing on the piece favors flowing, lyrical lines that move through the harmony with clarity and purpose, reflecting his broader aesthetic of deliberate, well-organized melodic construction. Since its debut, These Things has appeared in other recorded contexts, including Greg Fishman's 2018 album So You Say and a Doug Webb trio session recorded in Holland with bassist Marius Beets and drummer Eric Ineke later that same year. While the tune has not entered wide circulation as a jazz standard, it remains a representative example of the contrafact tradition and of Webb's ability to craft original material that engages directly with the harmonic language of the standard songbook.
