Why this tune? Tunes On Tuesday this week marks the birthday of the great lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer. He wrote lyrics for over 1,500 songs, including many classics composed by Henry Mancini. Mercer and Mancini collaborated on this tune, a movie theme that won the Oscar for Best Song in 1962. This is aContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Days Of Wine And Roses”
Tag Archives: jazz
Tunes on Tuesday: Joy Spring
Why this tune? This week marks the start of a new Tunes On Tuesday series, returning to stories about tunes worth knowing and what they mean to me. This week’s tune is a tribute to thegreat Clifford Brown, a brilliant bebop trumpet player and composer who died at age 23in a 1956 car accident. InContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Joy Spring”
Tunes On Tuesday: 45 Seconds
Why this tune? I just updated the Original Music page on this site, adding audio and video clips plus charts for a bunch of songs I’ve written recent. While editing the page I saw a short song I recorded eight years ago that I refreshed for Tunes On Tuesday. “45 Seconds” was the musical responseContinue reading “Tunes On Tuesday: 45 Seconds”
Tunes on Tuesday: Powerful Questions
Why this tune? You may not think of software development as musical, but it inspired this week’s song. I took a course recently on Agile Coaching, learning how to help software teams use Agile processes to work more effectively. One of the many coaching tools we learned was the use of “powerful questions.” These areContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Powerful Questions”
Tunes on Tuesday: Pelican Cove
Why this tune? Here’s another song from this year’s 50/90 project, inspired by another morning walk around the Pelican Cove Condos on St. Croix. I saw the sign for the condos as I returned and remembered that I had seen an actual pelican off the beach a few months before. The phrase “I saw aContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Pelican Cove”
Tunes on Tuesday: Sunflower In The City
Why this tune? My wife, who always has good ideas, offered me a way to get out of a songwriting rut and feed the creativity engine. She suggested looking for song ideas on my morning walks around the neighborhood. That inspired this week’s tune, triggered by sunflowers growing in a nearby community garden. It’s aContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Sunflower In The City”
Tunes on Tuesday: In The Lounge
Why this tune? You never know what songs will resonate with people, and when. I wrote “In The Lounge” in 2011, when I was still traveling frequently for my job at Nokia (remember them?). I usually introduce it as a “lounge song about lounges,” an ironic tribute to the dubious perks of frequent fliers. TonyContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: In The Lounge”
Tunes on Tuesday: Hey Iguana
Why this tune? I wrote “Hey Iguana” on St. Croix in the afternoon after lunch with Amy K. Bormet and her trio (Angel Bethea and Karine Chapdelaine), who were on island for a residency at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts in Frederiksted. Amy informally challenged me to write a new song for aContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Hey Iguana”
Tunes on Tuesday: Ain’t It The Truth (WPFD)
Why this tune? For World Press Freedom Day 2022 (May 3), I’m releasing the original recording of “Ain’t It The Truth” featuring Carolyn Malachi singing my song about the challenge of false information and the search for truth. All income from the track will be divided among two fine organizations working to support independent journalistsContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Ain’t It The Truth (WPFD)”
Tunes on Tuesday: Sanitizer
Why this tune? I wrote and recorded “Sanitizer” early in the pandemic, starting the process with a hip drum sample from the superbly useful Drumgenius library (Tony Williams on “500 miles high”). The bass line and chords came next, followed by the simple melody. More than two years later, the pandemic, and the need forContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Sanitizer”
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 