Bernice Petkere, music · Joe Young, lyrics · Featured in the 1932 Broadway revue Chamberlain Brown's Scrap Book
Lullaby of the Leaves
Lullaby of the Leaves is a 1932 song featured in a Broadway revue that ran only ten performances. George Olsen's band had a number one record with it that year, and jazz players soon adopted it. Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day, Grant Green and Ella Fitzgerald are among the artists who recorded it.
Listen in this order
The path opens with the 1932 dance-band hit and Art Tatum alone at the piano. It then moves to Dizzy Gillespie with strings, Anita O'Day's voice, Gerry Mulligan's quartet without a piano and two guitar records, and ends with Ella Fitzgerald and an orchestra in 1964.
1950sDizzy Gillespie with Johnny Richards' Orchestra1950 · Bebop
Anita O'Day1952 · Bebop
Gerry Mulligan Quartet1952 · Cool jazz
Tal Farlow Quartet1955
1960sGrant Green1961 · Hard bop
Ella Fitzgerald1964 · Vocal
Progress can't be saved in this browser.
Step 1 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Learn the song
George Olsen and His Music · 1932
Lullaby of the Leaves
George Olsen's dance band recorded it for Victor in New York on April 14, 1932, with singers drawn from the band. According to JazzStandards.com, the record spent two of its ten weeks on the charts at number one.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Singers from inside the band sing the song while the dance band plays behind them. The record lasts 3:14, so it is a short, direct way to learn the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 4 of the song in : and , and , and , then and . Smaller version: one per bar, Cm, D7, Gm7, Fm7.
Dizzy Gillespie with Johnny Richards' Orchestra · 1950 · Bebop
The Dizzy Gillespie Story
Dizzy Gillespie recorded it in Los Angeles on October 31, 1950, with Johnny Richards conducting an orchestra of strings, harp, woodwinds and French horn. It first came out as a Discovery single.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
A trumpet plays the tune with strings, a harp, woodwinds and a French horn behind it. The record lasts 2:30.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first six of the : for two bars, for two bars, A♭7 for two bars. Smaller version: play A♭7, Cmaj7, A♭7 and hold each for two bars.
Anita O'Day recorded it in New York on January 22, 1952, for producer Norman Granz. It appeared on her first album for Granz, Anita O'Day Collates, issued by Clef in 1953.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
A single voice leads, where the 1932 record used a group of singers. The record lasts 3:09.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last two of the and the return: and , then and , then at the top of the last A. Smaller version: one per bar, C6, Dm7♭5, G7♭13, Cm.
Gerry Mulligan's quartet recorded it at Phil Turetsky's house in Los Angeles on August 16, 1952. It came out on Pacific Jazz's first 10-inch LP, Gerry Mulligan Quartet Vol. 1.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Baritone saxophone and trumpet play together with only bass and drums behind them and no piano. The recording lasts 3:15.
Try it on your instrument
Play the two endings of the first . First ending: , then and . Second ending: Cm for two . Smaller version: play Cm, A♭7, Cm.
Tal Farlow's quartet recorded it in Los Angeles on April 25, 1955. Norgran first issued it on the album Swing Guitars and again on The Tal Farlow Album.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
A guitar leads a quartet of guitar, piano, bass and drums. The record lasts 3:47.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole first , 1 to 8: and , and , and , and , , G7♭13, Cm, then and . Smaller version: one per bar, Cm, D7, Gm7, Fm7, Dm7♭5, G7♭13, Cm, A♭7.
Guitarist Grant Green led an organ trio with 'Baby Face' Willette and drummer Ben Dixon at Rudy Van Gelder's studio on January 28, 1961. Blue Note issued it on Grant's First Stand.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
A guitar, an organ and drums play without horns. At 7:42 the record runs three times as long as the Gillespie record, so each player gets more time.
Try it on your instrument
Play the full , 17 to 24: for two bars, for two bars, A♭7 for two bars, then and , and and . Smaller version: play only A♭7, Cmaj7, A♭7 and hold each for two bars.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded it in New York City on March 3 or 4, 1964, with Frank DeVol arranging and conducting. Verve released the album Hello, Dolly! in July 1964.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
A singer in front of an orchestra, with Zoot Sims on tenor saxophone. The record lasts just under three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play a full at a medium swing tempo: A, A, , A. End the last A with and so it leads into the next chorus. Smaller version: loop only 25 to 32, the last A.
The song is featured in a 1932 Broadway revue that ran ten performances. George Olsen's dance band records it for Victor in April 1932, and the record reaches number one on the charts.
1940s
Art Tatum plays it alone at the piano for Decca in February 1940. Mary Lou Williams's version comes out on Asch in April 1944.
1950s
Dizzy Gillespie records it with strings in 1950. Two 1952 sessions follow: Anita O'Day sings it in January and Gerry Mulligan's quartet plays it without a piano in August.
1960s
Grant Green's guitar and organ trio plays it in January 1961, and the Ventures record it that May. In 1964 Ella Fitzgerald sings it on Hello, Dolly! with an orchestra.
1990s
Marian McPartland plays it with Geri Allen on her 1998 album Just Friends.
More great versions
5 more, from 1944 to 1998. Tap a cover to play it here.
1940sMary Lou Williams1944
1950sBilly Eckstine1958 · Easy listening
1960sThe Ventures1961
Lennie Tristano1965
1970s
1980s
1990sMarian McPartland with Geri Allen1998 · Bebop
Mary Lou Williams
1944
Asch 1004
Mary Lou Williams's version came out on Asch in April 1944 as a Mary Lou and Her Chosen Five record. It opens the 1977 Folkways set The Asch Recordings 1944-47.
The Ventures, an instrumental guitar band, recorded it in May 1961 for their album Another Smash!!!. According to JazzStandards.com, the band had a hit with the song that year.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
C minorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
C minor → A♭ → C → A♭ → C → C minorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
C m
C m
A♭
C
A♭
C
C m
The iReal Pro chart runs 32 in : A (8 bars), A (8), B (8) and A (8). Each opens with and , and , and , then and , followed by and G7♭13. The first A ends with Cm, then and , which lead back to the top. The second A ends on Cm for two bars, and the last A ends with Cm, then Dm7♭5 and G7♭9, ready for the next . The moves to brighter : A♭7 for two bars, for two bars, A♭7 for two bars, then and , and Dm7♭5 and G7♭13, which lead back to Cm.