Why this tune?
I had a very successful January song-a-day challenge, completing 28 songs in the 31 days (I took a few days off because of ill health). Now I’m starting the longer process of revisiting and revising the songs I wrote last month, in hopes of extracting and polishing some gems I can use for future performance and recording. I think one of those “keepers” may be the song I wrote on the 2nd, “The Smile In Your Eyes.” That song started as an exercise in a lyric writing class, and evolved through a couple of revisions to the version you’re hearing today.
It’s a story about love and memory, and getting to the stage in life where you might forget the big events but remember the truly important details. The music was influenced by a couple of Fountains of Wayne songs I love, my attempt to break out of my usual jazz and blues styles and experiment with more of a pop sound.
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 