Why this tune? I first thought about updating the Bobby Troup classic “Route 66” for the infamous Northern Virginia Interstate 66 soon after I moved back to the area in 2010, but didn’t get around to it until last week. It was only last week, on a drive back to DC on I-66 from aContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: I-66”
Tag Archives: Tunes On Tuesday
Tunes on Tuesday: Imagination
Why this tune? I’m preparing for a solo piano gig on Sept. 29, and plan to include this week’s tune“Imagination” in my set list. It’s one of my favorite ballads, written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke in 1940 for Glenn Miller’s swing band. I first heard it in the early 1990s,performed by theContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Imagination”
Tunes on Tuesday: Strange Fire
Why this tune? This week’s tune is another addition to my evolving “Parsha Songs” project, a collection of songs inspired by each of the 54 weekly Torah portions in the Jewish tradition. The title comes from Leviticus 10:1 in Parashat Shemini, describing how two sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, brought to the sacrificial altarContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Strange Fire”
Tunes on Tuesday: Blame It On The Snake
Why this tune? This week’s tune is the result of another collaboration in the FAWM community (fawm.org). I connected on the website with two very talented writers, David Graham and Vaughan Ray Daniel, and set their words to music. Their creative take on the first story in the Torah seems like a good fit forContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Blame It On The Snake”
Tunes on Tuesday: Peace
Why this tune? This week’s tune is another jazz classic, the beautiful ballad “Peace” written by Horace Silver in 1959. Silver would have celebrated his 95th birthday this week (Sept. 2). He was a pioneer of “hard bop” in the 1950s and 60s and wrote many tunes that have become jazz standards, like “Song ForContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Peace”
Tunes on Tuesday: Wave
Why this tune? This week’s tune, “Wave”, is one of the most popular bossa nova tunes written by theBrazilian bossa master Antônio Carlos Jobim. Stan Getz is credited with kicking off abossa nova craze in 1963 with his Grammy-winning album Getz/Gilberto. Getz, singer Astrud GIlberto, and Jobim created the bossa nova sound that has influencedContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Wave”
Tunes on Tuesday: Haunted (not Haunted)
Why this tune? This week’s tune is another one I wrote during this year’s FAWM 50/90, kicked off by aprompt: “haunted.” I want to dive into some of the process I followed to turn that prompt into this song. I started as I usually do by just writing, anything, in a stream of consciousness toContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Haunted (not Haunted)”
Tunes on Tuesday: All The Things You Are
Why this tune? I’m returning to the standards this week with another tune I’ve been working to add to my repertoire of songs I can play in any key. I shared my version of the most popular jazz standard “Body and Soul” a few weeks ago. This week it’s the runner-up, “All The Things YouContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: All The Things You Are”
Tunes on Tuesday: Big Knife Creek
Why this tune? As I’ve mentioned before, I’m participating in the “50/90” songwriting community atfawm.org. It’s a global forum for songwriters that opens twice a year to a global community of writers who share songs and discussion. The site hosts regular “skirmishes,” where ahost picks a theme and participants try to write a song basedContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Big Knife Creek”
Tunes on Tuesday: Waiting For My Beach
Why this tune? This week’s tune is the third single from my Groove Park project that drops on Friday July 28. “Waiting For My Beach” is a country beach song with an ironic twist about the very real threats of climate change. The narrator is an eternal optimist who just wants to make sure thatContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Waiting For My Beach”
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 