The Mellow Cello

Composed by Hungarian-born film composer Joseph Kosma in 1945 and with lyrics written by Johnny Mercer, Autumn Leaves is a popular song and one of the most popular jazz standards of all time. Interestingly, Autumn Leaves is actually the translated version of a French song entitled "Les Feuilles Mortes", which literally means "Dead Leaves". The original French version is a dark lament about love lost and regret. The translated version touches on that same theme, but in a gentler, more wistful way. (The lyrics between the two songs actually differ for this reason.)

The song began its life in 1945 as a poem written by French poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert as part of the script for a ballet called "Le Rendezvous". Two years later, when director Marcel Carné made a film of the ballet, Kosma set Prévert's poem to music. Although Carné's film was unsuccessful, the lead actor, a popular young Italian-French actor and singer named Yves Montand, took a liking to "Les Feuilles Mortes". Even though he didn't sing it in the picture, he added it to his concert repertoire, and he would sing it right up until the time of his death in 1991. Johnny Mercer wrote the English lyrics and gave the song the title "Autumn Leaves".

The late American traditional pop artist Jo Stafford made the first English-language recording of Autumn Leaves in July 1950. Since that time, it was steadily recorded throughout the 1950s by leading pop vocalists, such as Bing Crosby (1950), Nat King Cole (1955), and Frank Sinatra (1957). Instrumental jazz artists, such as Duke Ellington (1957), Vince Guaraldi (1958), and John Coltrane (1962) to name only a few, also quickly adopted the song. An instrumental version of the song by pianist Roger Williams was a number one best-seller in the US Billboard charts of 1955. (Fun Fact: It was the first piano instrumental to reach number one!)

In 2012, jazz historian Philippe Baudoin called the song "the most important non-American standard" and noted that "it has been recorded about 1400 times by mainstream and modern jazz musicians alone and is the eighth most-recorded tune by jazzmen".

Composed by Richard Rodgers and with lyrics written by Lorenz Hart, "Bewitched" is a show tune and popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Pal Joey. Like "Isn’t It Romantic?", it, too, is also a part of the Great American Songbook. The late American actress and singer Vivienne Segal introduced the song on December 25, 1940 in the original Broadway production. She also sang the song on both the 1950 hit studio cast album record and in the 1952 Broadway revival of the production. It was performed by the late American band singer, Broadway star, and film and television actress Carol Bruce in the 1954 London production.

This song has been recorded many times. Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song in August 1956. Rob Stewart and Cher also recorded this song as a duet in 2003, and it peaked at No. 17 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in the United States in 2003. It also has several references in popular culture, such as in the TV series "Dynasty", the 1986 film "Hannah and her Sisters", and in the second episode of the first season of "The Crown".

Fun Fact: The full name of the song is actually "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"!

What is your favorite song from the ?