It has been a long time since the last ukulele installment, which was a performance of an old Shaker song. I’ve worked on a number of pieces since then. Some I didn’t record…yet. As mentioned before, the music I’m learning is more complicated and requires more practice time than what I was doing a couple years ago. (Every music teacher reading this is thinking, “I would hope so!”) A lot of times I’m on to the next song when my uke teacher feels I’ve learned what I needed to from the current one. But sometimes the piece isn’t quite ready for recording.

This song I really wanted to get out before starting the Christmas music season. It’s called Autumn Leaves and was composed by Joseph Kosma in 1945. The French lyrics were penned by Jacques Pré vert with English lyrics coming later from Johnny Mercer. It has been recorded hundreds of times. Autumn Leaves is a jazz standard and also a pop song; my absolute favorite version is by Eva Cassidy, recorded live in 1996. She approached the piece from a singer-songwriter angle. Perfectly melancholic.

I was given a lead sheet by my teacher and asked to create an intro and a solo. I went with a wistful feeling instructed by the lyrics:

The falling leaves drift by my window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sunburned 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

This brings a whole new level of seasonal affective disorder! I had a lot of fun with this one, building from a simple lead sheet:

Coming soon, something French! I hope to have that out sometime early next year.