Why this tune? April 30 is International Jazz Day, established by UNESCO in 2011 to celebrate this BlackAmerican music we call jazz and its role in global diplomacy around the world. The date was chosen in part to honor Duke Ellington, who was born on April 29, 1899. I thought it appropriate to mark theContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Prelude to a Kiss”
Category Archives: Original music
Tunes on Tuesday: Two For The Road
Why this tune? This week’s we’re celebrating the 100th birthday of the great composer Henry Mancini with one of my favorite Mancini songs. “Two For The Road” is the title song of a 1967 film directed by Stanley Donen, starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. This beautiful song has been recorded over 200 times, withContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Two For The Road”
Tunes on Tuesday: First Ripe Grapes
Why this tune? This week’s tune is a work in progress, another in my “Parsha Songs” series inspired by theweekly Torah portion. The prompt for this song comes from Parashat Shelach (Numbers 13:1-15:41). The portion includes the story of the “spies” sent to explore the land of Canaan before the Israelites enter the Promised Land.Continue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: First Ripe Grapes”
Tunes on Tuesday: As Water Covers The Sea
Why this tune? This week’s tune is another original that I wrote in 2016. it’s an instrumental tune exploring some harmonic ideas. I chose the title after I wrote the tune, deciding to look for a Biblical reference that fit the mood of the piece. I thought the phrase “as water covers the sea” fromContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: As Water Covers The Sea”
Tunes on Tuesday: Think Spring
Why this tune? Tunes on Tuesday comes out on Wednesday this week with “Think Spring,” which I wrote in January this year, when we were waiting impatiently for warmer days to come. It’s still somewhat relevant here in DC, where the weather hasn’t yet received the news about the change of season. When I wroteContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Think Spring”
Tunes on Tuesday: Grown Up Since Tuesday
Why this tune? This week’s tune is another song I started in January and finally got around to polishing into a more complete form. The idea for this one, like so many others, came from a conversation with my wife. What she said was “I’ll be a grown-up on Tuesday,” which is a great promptContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Grown Up Since Tuesday”
Tunes on Tuesday: The Last Banana
Why this tune? This week’s tune is another work from my January song-a-day challenge. It’s another example of a song inspired by everyday life. In this case it was breakfast, when I neglected to share the last banana in the house with my wife. My apology took the form of a tango that I recordedContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: The Last Banana”
Tunes on Tuesday: At Sixty
Why this tune? I wrote the first draft of this song early in 2023, soon after I turned sixty. I wanted to express some of the strangeness of reaching an age that had always seemed so far away. I liked the music but realized that the original lyrics were not delivering the story of heContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: At Sixty”
Tunes on Tuesday: I Love You, Shut Up
Why this tune? I’m sharing Tunes On Tuesday on Wednesday this week (after the long US President’s Day holiday weekend). The idea for “I Love You, Shut Up” started in a conversation among friends where someone in the group may have overstepped the bounds, leading his partner to say “I love you, but shut up.” The storyContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: I Love You, Shut Up”
Tunes on Tuesday: Improbable
Why this tune? I’m spending time this month reviewing and revising songs I have written or started to write, as part of a larger goal to plan out some recording projects for the next year or so. I wrote the first draft of “Improbable” in January – one of my song-a-day creations inspired by aContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Improbable”
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 