Why this tune? Today I’m remembering Louis Armstrong on his birthday. My late father was a big jazz fan, and some of the earliest music I can remember are the sounds of Louis Armstrong coming from my dad’s mono hifi system. I’m sure he played “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” written by his wife Lil HardinContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Struttin’ With Some Barbecue”
Author Archives: Oren Levine
Tunes on Tuesday: This House Is Empty Now
Why this tune? I read recently that Burt Bacharach released his first new songs in 15 years, a collaboration with the Nashville writer/producer Daniel Tashian. That event reminded me of one of my favorite albums, his project with Elvis Costello, “Painted From Memory” from 1998. If you haven’t heard it yet, please check it out. It’sContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: This House Is Empty Now”
Tunes on Tuesday: Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
Why this tune? Today marks the birthday today of Sonny Clark, a great pianist who died far too young in 1963 at age 31. He recorded a fine version of “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise” in 1958. This is another jazz and jam session classic that comes to us from the theater world, inContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Softly As In A Morning Sunrise”
Tunes On Tuesday: I Hate Onions
Why this tune? Back in May I wrote about my first song “I Believe In Rhubarb,” inspired by a conversation about gardening. My wife liked the song but suggested that I write another one about a subject closer to her heart. That led to my second song, “I Hate Onions,” which also marked the endContinue reading “Tunes On Tuesday: I Hate Onions”
Tunes On Tuesday: Caravan
Why this tune? As our COVID crisis continues, I’m thinking back to the regular gigs we enjoyed before the virus, like the monthly dates at Mr. Henry’s in Washington, DC with Aaron Myers and his band: with Percy White on bass and Will Stephens on drums. One instrumental we used to call regularly was Caravan,Continue reading “Tunes On Tuesday: Caravan”
Tunes On Tuesday: If I Were A Bell
Why this tune? If you’re a jazz fan, you may know If I Were A Bell as that Miles Davis tune from one of his great 1956 sessions for Prestige Records. Like so many jazz standards, though, it’s a song from a musical, in this case Guys and Dolls, written by the great Frank Loesser.Continue reading “Tunes On Tuesday: If I Were A Bell”
Tunes on Tuesday – St. Thomas
Why this tune? I’m writing this from St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. We heard a jazz concert here on one of our first visits, and weren’t surprised when the band closed the set with “St. Thomas,” named for another island in the VI. We associate the tune with Sonny Rollins, who recorded itContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday – St. Thomas”
Tunes on Tuesday – Alternative Facts
Why this tune? I have been working with the International Center for Journalists for several years on projects supporting independent journalism and countering disinformation. When I heard a government official talk about “Alternative Facts” on the news, that moved me off the couch and to the piano to start writing a response. I call thisContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday – Alternative Facts”
Tunes on Tuesday – Route 66
Why this tune? You must have heard “Route 66” – that iconic song about driving that highway “from Chicago to LA.” Perhaps it was during that little movie about cars in 2006, which included two versions of the song on the soundtrack, by Chuck Berry and John Mayer. The first version I remember hearing wasContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday – Route 66”
Tunes on Tuesday – Here, There and Everywhere
Why this tune? My late father Mel grew up in Boston with the jazz cornetist Ruby Braff, a great player in the Dixieland and swing tradition who passed in 2003. I remember my father playing his version of Here, There, and Everywhere when I was growing up in the mid-1970s. It’s from a 1973 albumContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday – Here, There and Everywhere”
