Author Archives: Oren Levine

Tunes on Tuesday: Next Slide

Why this tune? Sometimes the journey from idea to completed song is fast and direct. This week’s tune was one of those. It was triggered by a presenter on yet another online work meeting calling for the “next slide.” That reminded me of the countless slide decks I prepared and presented over my long technologyContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Next Slide”

Tunes on Tuesday: Someone To Watch Over Me

Why this tune? On New Year’s Day 2022, a new collection of songs and recordings written or recorded in 1926 entered the public domain, after their 95-year copyright term expired. This addition to the public domain repertoire happens every year, but we’re now seeing songs on the list that are still popular today in theContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Someone To Watch Over Me”

Tunes on Tuesday: Our Delight

Why this tune? I decided to play Tadd Dameron’s “Our Delight” this week after hearing it on a vinyl record from 1980 that I bought at HR Records in my neighborhood in Washington, DC. This is another fine bebop standard by the man Blue Note calls “the definitive arranger/composer of the bop era.” Dameron wasContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Our Delight”

Tunes on Tuesday: Let’s Start The New Year Right

Why this tune? I’m preparing this week for a New Year’s Eve gig, and always looking for some new New Year’s tunes to add to the set list. My musical partner Barbara Papendorp has also been looking, and found this obscure Irving Berlin song he wrote for the 1942 film “Holiday Inn.” There don’t seemContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Let’s Start The New Year Right”

Tunes on Tuesday: I’m Old Fashioned

Why this tune? “I’m Old Fashioned” is a lovely song by the American song masters Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer, which they wrote for a 1942 film “You Were Never Lovelier.” It’s been a regular feature on my set lists for years – Barbara Papendorp and I include it in almost every show, and I’veContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: I’m Old Fashioned”

Tunes on Tuesday: Bend Don’t Break

Why this tune? This week’s tune is another work in progress, a song inspired by our island second home of St. Croix, which I’m planning to record with a talented group of musicians from the island. “Bend Don’t Break” encourages us to face our problems and challenges with flexibility, taking inspiration from the palm trees,Continue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Bend Don’t Break”

Tunes on Tuesday: Mi Yimalel

Why this tune? Last year around this time I released a collection of eight short interpretations of Hanukkah songs, one for each of the eight days of the Festival of Lights. The oldest arrangement in the collection is one I’ve played with for several years, a jazz version of the Hanukkah classic Mi Yimalel (מיContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Mi Yimalel”

Tunes on Tuesday: Thanksgiving With Uncle Rob (2021)

Why this tune? I wrote this week’s tune ten years ago around this time, as part of an effort to write songs for holidays that need (in my opinion) more musical attention. I was inspired by the holidays we spent over the years with my late uncle Rob and his sister Nora (my late father’sContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Thanksgiving With Uncle Rob (2021)”

Tunes on Tuesday: A Little Late

Why this tune? I was late in planning for this week’s Tune, so it’s no surprise that I chose a song about just that condition. The inspiration for the song was a phrase “A little late, a little lame” which I heard somewhere sometime and wrote down in my file of words and phrases forContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: A Little Late”