Tunes on Tuesday: Short Term Memory Loss Blues

Why this tune?

This week’s tune comes from a rehearsal with 
Tony Gudell for his show at Alfio’s (just outside DC)
on June 21, 2025. It’s a fun song written by the late composer and
screenwriter Ray Jessel, who passed in 2015. Jessel had a very successful career writing musicals
and TV shows, and started performing his own
comedy songs at parties in the 1990s. He was encouraged to “take his show on the road,”
as it were, and started performing in public at age 72.
He kept performing until just before his death at age 85.

“Short Term Memory Loss Blues” is a delightful song,
and sadly relevant for those of us reaching Jessel’s
age when he wrote it. It’s on the program alongside songbook standards
and several of my songs, including the tunes from my
”Grown Up Since Tuesday” EP.

I find Jessel’s work and career inspiring, and hope to
keep at it at least as long as he did.

Tunes On Tuesday Reel