“Ceora” is a bossa nova composed by trumpeter Lee Morgan and recorded on his 1965 album Cornbread. It’s a gentle, lyrical tune with smooth chord changes and a singable melody, and it’s become a popular choice for students and jam sessions looking for a Latin tune beyond the usual Jobim standards.
The tune is usually played in Ab major, with a bossa nova feel. The harmony moves through a series of ii-V progressions that travel smoothly between closely related keys, giving the tune a relaxed, flowing quality. The melody is built on long notes and graceful phrases.
For improvisation, treat each ii-V as a mini key center and connect them with guide tones. Keep your eighth notes straight and your phrasing lyrical, as bossa nova calls for. Lee Morgan’s own solo is warm and melodic, a great model for tasteful trumpet playing.
Practice with a bossa nova play-along. Learn the melody by ear from Cornbread. Pianists and guitarists should practice light, syncopated bossa comping.
Arrangement idea: open with a four-bar bossa groove from bass and drums, add guitar or piano comping, then bring in the melody on trumpet or flugelhorn. For the solos, keep the bossa feel or switch to a light swing for contrast. End by repeating the last phrase twice and fading out softly.
Practice checklist for the Ceora Lead Sheet PDF: play the melody from memory, play roots through the form, play guide tones, improvise one chorus of chord tones only, and finally record yourself soloing over a play-along. Listening back is the fastest way to spot what to fix next.
Memorizing the Ceora Lead Sheet PDF: learn the form in sections, not all at once. Play the first eight bars until you can do them with your eyes closed, then add the next section. Within a week or two you won’t need the page at all, which is the real goal of any lead sheet.
Is it hard to play? It’s intermediate and a great Latin tune for developing ii-V fluency. Recordings to study: Lee Morgan’s Cornbread. Learn more about the composer on Lee Morgan’s Wikipedia page, and find more bossa nova lead sheets on Minedit.