Why this tune?
Sometimes it can take months to write a song, and sometimes it can happen much more quickly. “Free Sailing” was the result of an afternoon at the piano, after I (for some reason) decided to write a be-bop tune. I called the tune “Free Sailing” in part because I started with a musical phrase and “went sailing” to see where the melody and harmony led.
I was also inspired by my current location on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, home to many sailors and sailboats.
The tune is mostly in C major, but it starts on an E chord and stops in several harmonic ports along the way to the B chord at the end. The tune also includes some material that I find hard to play. I’ve done this before, writing a song around challenging (to me) musical patterns as a way of giving myself a way to work on them.
I’m happy with the result, and hope to share it with my fellow musicians at a gig or jam session soon.
You can find the lead sheet here.
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Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 