Category Archives: Jazz

A few weeks ago, I took a lesson in jazz composition. (I won’t name names because I don’t want my writing to sully his good reputation.) One of the teacher’s observations was that my melodies are generally tethered to chord … Continue reading →

The previous Thursday I had learned that the owner of the restaurant where we play was grieving the one-year anniversary of his wife’s death. That was on my mind when I sat down to write this week’s jazz tune. The … Continue reading →

The jazz tune of the week is “No More Need to Be Blue.” It is all sunshine and light. In fact, I wrote some lyrics for this one, and they’re all about the hope of a new morning after a … Continue reading →

Faithful followers of this blog–both of you–will know that I’ve been writing a new jazz tune every week for my Thursday night gig at Euro Bistro. It has been great fun, and though I have no immediate need for a … Continue reading →

This week’s jazz tune is called “Jenopédie.” What does that mean, you wonder? Well, certainly you’ve heard Erik Satie’s iconic “Gymnopédie #1.” As I worked on my tune I realized that it shared the same opening chords as that piece. … Continue reading →

I wrote a “Waltz for Ed” so it was only fair that I write a new tune for the other member of our jazz trio, Susan. It’s called “Susan’s Blues.” It starts with a bass groove (Ed and Susan felt … Continue reading →

In recent months, I’ve had weekly bass gigs playing jazz at a local restaurant. Getting back into the swing (!) of playing jazz standards has inevitably led me to write a new tune for our group to play. Indeed, this … Continue reading →