Why this tune? This week’s tune is a preview of a new songwriting project I’m testing out, writing songs based on prompts drawn from the weekly Torah portion in the Jewish tradition. The idea of using prompts is a popular way to generate ideas for new songs, but I’m not sure if anyone has applied thatContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: A Pleasing Odor”
Category Archives: Original music
Tunes on Tuesday: DC Days, Bangkok Nights
Why this tune? I wrote this tune in 2019 before a trip to Thailand with the DC Jazz Collective, a grouporganized by drummer Will Stephens. We played several gigs in the Bangkok area including a performance at an international jazz festival at Mahidol University. Will organized a second tour in 2020, just before the pandemicContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: DC Days, Bangkok Nights”
Tunes on Tuesday: Twenty Years in Freedom City
Why this tune? I wrote this song for a performance at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts(CMCArts) on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. They asked me to perform in April 2023 at a fundraising festival celebrating the 20th anniversary of the museum’s home in Frederiksted (also known as Freedom City). I playedContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Twenty Years in Freedom City”
Tunes on Tuesday: On All Other Nights (Passover 2023)
Why this tune? Passover starts this week on Wednesday night (April 5, 2023), this year mostly free from the shadow of the pandemic. I wrote “On All Other Nights” before the holiday in 2020, when those of us celebrating had to change our in-person plans. I was delighted that Julie Mack agreed to record theContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: On All Other Nights (Passover 2023)”
Tunes on Tuesday: Pi Day 2023
Why this tune? It’s Pi Day, when the date (for us Americans at least) March 14 matches the first three digits (3.14) of our favorite mathematical constant, Pi (π). Tunes On Tuesday marks the day with a new version of my Pi Day song, which I wrote in 2015, a very special Pi day, whenContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Pi Day 2023”
Tunes on Tuesday: Old Men
Why this tune? This week’s tune started as a project from a songwriting program I attended in 2016. We were tasked to write music to a poem. I found a short poem by Ogden Nash, “Old Men,” a short and powerful meditation on aging and how we view the elderly. I tried a few optionsContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Old Men”
Tunes on Tuesday: Early Start
Why this tune? This week I’m sharing a new song in progress. The FAWM (February Album Writing Month) community is inspiring me to write new songs at an accelerated pace this month. This song started as an idea about the pleasures of an early morning walk. I wrote a chorus pretty quickly, but then struggledContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Early Start”
Tunes on Tuesday: Bullet In The Night
Why this tune? I’m participating in FAWM: February Album-Writing Month, a global community ofsongwriters writing and sharing songs, with the stated goal of writing 14 new songs(i.e. an album’s worth) during the month. Part of what I like about FAWM is the opportunity to write music for other peoples’ lyrics. “Bullet In The Night” isContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Bullet In The Night”
Tunes on Tuesday: Let’s Resolve
Why this tune? Tunes on Tuesday starts the new year with a new song written on New Year’s Eve. I started the song with I started the song with a twist on the concept of New Year’s resolutions. What if we resolve to not make any? That evolved into a sort of love song, whereContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Let’s Resolve”
Tunes on Tuesday: Hanukkah Light
Why this tune? For Tunes on Tuesday during Hanukkah I’m sharing a solo piano version of my song “Hanukkah Light” that I recorded in 2020 as part of a series for the holiday (which you can find on Bandcamp). I recorded the song first in 2015 with Aaron Myers, and released it on his holidayContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Hanukkah Light”
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 