Why this tune? This week’s tune is a jazz classic penned by the late Benny Golson, who sadly passed last week (Sept. 21, 2024) at age 95. “Whisper Not” was one of the many jazz standards he left us in a long career as a performer, composer and arranger for jazz bands, film and television.Continue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Whisper Not”
Tag Archives: jazz piano
Tunes on Tuesday: Pay the Band
Why this tune? This week’s tune came about as part of my “Torah Tunes” project, an attempt to write songs inspired by the text of the weekly Torah portion we read in the Jewish tradition. Last week’s portion Ki Teizei (from the book of Dvarim / Deuteronomy) includes a verse about prompt payment of wagesContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Pay the Band”
Tunes on Tuesday: Alternative Facts
Why this tune? I wrote “Alternative Facts” in 2017, responding to a now-famous comment I heard on the news that year from a member of the then-Presidential administration. At the time I was working for a journalism non-profit, focusing on the challenges of disinformation around the world. With that issue on my mind, I wasContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Alternative Facts”
Tunes on Tuesday: Easy Living
Why this tune? Tunes on Tuesday posts on Wednesday this week, as I was traveling on Tuesday, returningfrom a short vacation in Copenhagen. I played this tune with a singer at a Copenhagen jam session. That reminded me what a beautiful song it is. Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin wrote the song for a 1937Continue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Easy Living”
Tunes on Tuesday: An August Day in April
Why this tune? We had a joyful evening at Blues Alley in Washington, DC on August 26, presenting aprogram of my songs to an appreciative audience. The show featured the three singers who performed on my album “Making Up For Lost Time,” Barbara Papendorp, Tony Gudell, and Aaron Myers. I was at the piano alongsideContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: An August Day in April”
Tunes on Tuesday: Sunday Night Blues
Why this tune? I wrote “Sunday Night Blues” a few years ago, responding to a request from a friend for asong about the dreaded “Sunday scaries.” I asked Barbara Papendorp to perform it for the first time in public at Blues Alley on August 26. She’s premiering another new song on the 26th, and singingContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Sunday Night Blues”
Tunes on Tuesday: Don’t Sleep On Me
Why this tune? Here’s another song that is on the list for my show at Blues Alley in Washington, DC on August 26, a tune we recorded in 2020. I wrote “Don’t Sleep On Me” in 2019, as a reaction to feelings of inadequacy that I felt at jam sessions or gigs, in the presenceContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Don’t Sleep On Me”
Tunes on Tuesday: No Ducks
Why this tune? This week I’m sharing another song that I’m planning to include in my show at Blues Alley in Washington, DC on August 26. “No Ducks” was inspired by Carolyn Hax’s advice column in the Washington Post. She had a question from a reader trying to deal with a family conflict. Hax’s advice,Continue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: No Ducks”
Tunes on Tuesday: You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To
Why this tune? This week I took some time to add another jazz standard to the repertoire of tunes I can play comfortably without the music. The educators all say that the best way to do that is to learn the song in every key, and practice it until it’s in your fingers and head.Continue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To”
Tunes on Tuesday: My Ship
Why this tune? Kurt Weill wrote “My Ship” in 1941 for the musical “Lady in the Dark,” featuring lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Weill got his start as a classical composer in his native Germany, best known for “The Threepenny Opera” from 1928 and its most famous song “Mack the Knife.” Weill fled Nazi persecution inContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: My Ship”
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 