Why this tune? This week’s tune is another reminder that many of the songs we think of now as jazz standards didn’t start that way. They only became jazz songs when jazz players interpreted them with a jazz language. Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise” as a melancholyContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Softly As In A Morning Sunrise”
Tag Archives: jazz
Tunes on Tuesday: Feels So Good
Why this tune? Imagine a time when a smooth jazz instrumental over 9 minutes long reached #4 on the Billboard pop chart and was nominated for the record of the Year Grammy. That time was 1978 and the song was “Feels So Good” by Chuck Mangione, a trumpet and flugelhorn player whose birthday falls onContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Feels So Good”
Tunes on Tuesday: Skylark
Why this tune? We’re marking the birthday (Nov. 22) of the great American composer Hoagy Carmichael with one of his most famous songs. His melody for “Skylark” was based on a solo by his friend Bix Beiderbecke, an early jazz cornet player who encouraged Hoagy in his musical career. The harmony takes some unexpected harmonicContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Skylark”
Tunes on Tuesday: Days Of Wine And Roses
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”
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”
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 