“Autumn Leaves”

The falling leaves drift by my window

The autumn leaves of red and gold

I see your lips, the summer kisses

The sun-burned hands I used to hold

Since you went away, the days grow long

And soon I’ll hear old winter’s song

But I miss you most of all, my darling

When autumn leaves start to fall

(Per Wikipedia) “Autumn Leaves” is a popular song turned jazz standard based on the French song “Les Feuilles mortes” (“The Dead Leaves”). It was composed by Hungarian-born Joseph Kosma in 1945 with French lyrics by Jacques Prévert. English lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer. He was a founding partner at Capitol Records and he chose Jo Stafford to make the first English recording in 1950. Roger Williams‘ instrumental version was #1 on the US Billboard charts in 1955. Other versions were sung by Bing Crosby, Steve Allen, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, and Frank Sinatra to name just a few. It has been recorded by over a thousand jazz musicians including Artie Shaw, Stan Getz, Erroll Garner, Duke Ellington, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Vince Guaraldi, Bill Evans, Ben Webster, and John Coltrane.