George Shearing, music · George David Weiss, lyrics (as B. Y. Forster) · Written in 1952 as a radio theme for the Birdland club in New York
Lullaby of Birdland
Lullaby of Birdland is a 1952 George Shearing tune, written as a radio theme for the Birdland club. The chords move between F minor and A♭ major, and three of its four eight-bar sections nearly repeat. You'll hear it on records by Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé and Erroll Garner, among many others.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song George Shearing Quintet✓
- 2 Hear it sung Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown✓
- 3 Compare a second singer Ella Fitzgerald with Sy Oliver✓
- 4 Hear it led by a horn Stan Getz Quintet✓
- 5 Hear a piano trio Erroll Garner Trio✓
- 6 Hear it with a horn band Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette✓
- 7 Hear it on guitars Biréli Lagrène Gipsy Trio✓
- 8 Hear a modern tribute Dianne Reeves✓
How the tune works
Thirty-two bars in four sections of eight, A A B A. Each A opens in F minor with Fm7 and Dm7♭5, then Gm7♭5 and C7♭9. It repeats Fm7 and Dm7♭5 and turns to A♭ major with B♭m7 and E♭7. Bars 5 to 7 play A♭maj7 and Fm7, B♭m7 and E♭7, then A♭maj7, and bar 8 turns back to minor with Gm7♭5 and C7♭9. The second A follows the same path until bar 15, which plays A♭maj7 and E♭7 before it settles on A♭maj7 in bar 16. The bridge stays in A♭ major and plays four bars twice: F7, B♭m7, B♭m7 with E♭7, then A♭maj7, with a C7♭9 turnaround at the end of the second pass. The last A matches the first.
The usual changes in A♭, with the tune starting in F minor. Each A section turns to A♭ major in bars 4 and 5, and the bridge stays in A♭.
The source is a LearnJazzStandards sheet for B♭ instruments, moved down a whole step here. It lists D♭7 above Gm7♭5 in bars 2, 8, 10 and 26 and Gm7♭5 above A♭maj7 in bar 24 as alternatives, and those are left out. The sheet matches Wikipedia's outline of I, vi, ii7, V7 in the major and I, viø7, iiø7, V7 in the minor. Wikipedia and JazzStandards.com give the original key as F minor or A♭ major, and standardrepertoire.com lists B♭ as a common key, so use the key buttons to move the chart. No sheet of Shearing's 1952 quintet arrangement was found, so recordings may use other substitutions.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with Shearing's own quintet and two sung records from 1954. It then moves to a tenor saxophone quintet, a live piano trio, Mel Tormé with Marty Paich's Dek-Tette, a guitar trio without drums and a tribute album to Sarah Vaughan.
-
Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
George Shearing Quintet 1952
Lullaby of Birdland
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- The first chorus plays the two A sections in unison, then the bridge in harmony, then the last A. Dick Garcia on guitar and Joe Roland on vibraphone solo in the second chorus, and Shearing solos in the third.
- Try this
- Play the first A section (bars 1 to 8) from the chart, melody and chords. Check that the second and last A sections start the same way.
-
Step 2 · Hear it sung Now playing
Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown 1954
Sarah Vaughan
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Vaughan sings with a sextet that has Clifford Brown on trumpet, Paul Quinichette on tenor saxophone and Herbie Mann on flute. Listen for her scat singing.
- Try this
- Sing or hum the first A section with her, then play it on your instrument. Compare where she stretches or shortens notes with where you do.
-
Step 3 · Compare a second singer Now playing
Ella Fitzgerald with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra 1954
Decca single
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Sy Oliver conducts the orchestra and chorus behind Ella. Hank Jones plays piano and Bill Doggett plays organ in the band.
- Try this
- Play the melody on your instrument along with her first chorus, and match where she ends each phrase.
-
Step 4 · Hear it led by a horn Now playing
Stan Getz Quintet 1952
Chamber Music by the Stan Getz Quintet
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Stan Getz leads on tenor saxophone with Jimmy Raney on guitar, Duke Jordan on piano, Bill Crow on bass and Frank Isola on drums. The track runs about two and a half minutes.
- Try this
- Play the root of each bar's first chord from the chart along with the recording. If you lose your place, wait for the next A section and rejoin.
-
Step 5 · Hear a piano trio Now playing
Erroll Garner Trio 1955
“Lullaby of Birdland (The Complete Concert by the Sea)”, The Complete Concert by the Sea
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Garner plays with Eddie Calhoun on bass and Denzil Best on drums, so the trio carries the chords and the form without horns or a singer.
- Try this
- Play the A section chords from the chart on piano or guitar with the recording, first chord of each bar. Add the second chord in two-chord bars once the first pass feels easy.
-
Step 6 · Hear it with a horn band Now playing
Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette 1956
Mel Tormé with the Marty Paich Dek-Tette
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Tormé sings with Marty Paich's Dek-Tette, a band with trumpets, trombone, saxophones, French horn and tuba. Listen for his scat singing.
- Try this
- Listen twice. First follow the singer against the chart's A sections. Then listen only to the bass and drums and tap the beat.
-
Step 7 · Hear it on guitars Now playing
Biréli Lagrène Gipsy Trio 2008
Gipsy Trio
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Lagrène and Hono Winterstein play guitars and Diego Imbert plays double bass. The lineup has no drums, and the take runs under three minutes.
- Try this
- Strum the first chord of each bar from the chart along with the recording. Add the second chord in two-chord bars once that feels steady.
-
Step 8 · Hear a modern tribute Now playing
Dianne Reeves 2000
The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Mulgrew Miller plays piano, and Billy Childs and Patrick Gandy conduct an orchestra. Compare Reeves's phrasing with Sarah Vaughan's in step 2.
- Try this
- Play the Vaughan and Reeves tracks back to back and write down one difference in how each phrases the same bars.
More great versions
-
Barney Kessel 1953
Easy Like
A guitar-led quintet with Bud Shank among the reeds, made in Los Angeles in 1953 for Lester Koenig's Contemporary label.
-
Ella Fitzgerald 1956
“Lullaby Of Birdland (Live At Zardi's, 1956)”, Ella At Zardi's
A club set with a trio from February 1956, recorded days before Ella's Cole Porter Song Book sessions and left unreleased until 2017.
-
George Shearing & Mel Tormé 1982
“Lullaby of Birdland (Live)”, An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Tormé
Shearing plays his own tune as a trio with Mel Tormé and bassist Brian Torff on the live album that won Tormé a Grammy.
-
George Shearing and Ernestine Anderson 1988
“Lullaby Of Birdland”, A Perfect Match
Shearing revisits his tune with singer Ernestine Anderson, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Jeff Hamilton, and gives it a Latin feel.
-
Ahmad Jamal 1992
“Lullaby Of Birdland (Live At Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase, Chicaco, IL / November 12-13, 1992)”, Chicago Revisited: Live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase
A live piano trio recording from a Chicago club in November 1992, with John Heard on bass and Yoron Israel on drums.
-
Joyce DiDonato, Craig Terry, Chuck Israels, Jimmy Madison and Charlie Porter 2019
“"Lullaby of Birdland" (Arr. Terry for Jazz Ensemble)”, Songplay
Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato sings Craig Terry's arrangement with piano, flugelhorn, bass and drums on her 2019 album Songplay.