Why this tune? I’m preparing for my show tonight at Washington’s Blues Alley club, where I’ve prepared a set of original songs and tunes by others that have inspired me. Many of my songs are influenced by the work of the late, great Dave Frishberg, so I had to include one Frishberg tune in the show. If you grewContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Can’t Take You Nowhere”
Tag Archives: songwriting
Tunes on Tuesday: Rubato
Why this tune? This week’s song is another one I have been ”polishing” since I wrote the first version in January. Since then I added a bridge, cleaned up the melody, and made some improvements to the lyric. Every revision has been better than the last, and closer to what I’d consider “finished.” As I wrote in January,Continue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Rubato”
Tunes on Tuesday: May Exploration
Why this tune? Where does a new song come from? This one started with a post by my old friend Manisha Shahane with the caption “Entered May with this exploration…” She asked me to write a second section, which led to the short tune I recorded for this week’s post. I used her tune as the introductionContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: May Exploration”
Tunes on Tuesday: If You Could Fly
Why this tune? I wrote the first version of this week’s song at least three years ago (if not more) and have been editing it occasionally since then. This is the fourth iteration of the tune, which started in 4/4 with a much more complicated harmony and melody. The latest version has simpler harmony andContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: If You Could Fly”
Tunes on Tuesday: A Little Late
Why this tune? I’m starting to get ready for my May 27 show at Blues Alley in Washington, DC, celebratingthe release of my new EP “Grown Up Since Tuesday.” We’re going to play the songs from the EP plus more of my tunes, and songs by composers who have inspired me. This song is aContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: A Little Late”
Tunes on Tuesday: Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
Why this tune? Tunes on Tuesday celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month with another seasonal classic. Tommy Wolf wrote the music in 1955 to a lyric by Fran Landesman, her jazz interpretation of T. S. Eliot’s “April is the cruelest month.” It’s a complex musical setting for a complex lyric exploring the singer’s feelings of loss andContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most”
Tunes on Tuesday: Down in the Deep (Passover 2025)
Why this tune? This week’s tune is in honor of Passover, an interpretation of the “Song of the Sea” in Exodus 15, which we read during the holiday. It’s another addition to my “Torah Tunes” series, for Parashat Beshalach where these verses appear. Moses and the Israelites sing this song following the dramatic crossing ofContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Down in the Deep (Passover 2025)”
Tunes on Tuesday: Everything Happens to Me
Why this tune? This week’s song is another one from the American songbook, a pop song from 1940 written by Matt Dennis and Tom Adair. It was a hit for Frank Sinatra, singing with Tommy Dorsey’s band, and entered the jazz repertoire soon after, recorded by Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and many others. I’m attractedContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Everything Happens to Me”
Tunes on Tuesday: You Must Believe In Spring
Why this tune? It’s officially spring, and so time for songs of the spring season. This is one of the loveliest spring songs I know. Michel Legrand and Jacques Demy wrote it as “La chanson de Maxence” for the 1967 film “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort.” Alan and Marilyn Bergman wrote new English lyrics for theContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: You Must Believe In Spring”
Tunes on Tuesday: Easy
Why this tune? I wrote this week’s tune last month during the annual February Album Writing Month at FAWM.org. The prompt for the song was “convenience,” which led to this musing on recent advances in large language model “AI.” Among the many tools out there are programs that will write songs for you based onContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Easy”
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 