Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves is a popular jazz standard. The song was composed by Joseph Kosma and the original lyrics were written in French by Jacques Prévert.

The duo collaborated on the song for  ”Les Feuilles mortes” (“The Dead Leaves”) for the 1946 French film translated into Gates of the Night.  Irene Joachim sung the song in the movie. The first commercial recording was released in 1950 of “The Dead Leaves”.

Kosma is said to be influenced by Roland Petit’s ballet music “Rendez-vous”.

 Johnny Mercer later translated the lyrics into English and titled the song Autumn Leaves.

Roger Williams instrumental version {piano} was a #1 best-seller in the USA Billboard charts of 1955.

The song was a popular way to teach beginning jazz musicians about jazz harmony and chord progression.

Many notable performers of the song include Eric Clapton, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Miles Davis, Doris Day, Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, Robert Goulet, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Mathis, Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, and Roger Williams.