Oren Levine
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ohljazz.com
Oren Levine
@ohljazz.com
440 followers 280 following 430 posts
I write songs and play jazz piano.
2023 ASCAP Foundation Bergman Lyric Awardee.
Based in St Croix USVI
Posts Replies Media Videos
ohljazz.com
Thanks @natalieweiner.bsky.social for posting about the 1959 project again.
If you haven't seen it, please check it out. Superb work of reporting and history. #JazzSky
natalieweiner.bsky.social Natalie Weiner @natalieweiner.bsky.social · 20h
i don't know if i've ever posted about the 1959 project here but it's one of my biggest accomplishments to date i think the1959project.com
The jazz that was huge in 1959 tended towards two quite disparate poles: strange big band music made by white bands for white audiences that sounds flatly jarring to listen to today, and music by Black jazz artists who were uninterested in pleasing (mostly) white critics — music that was deemed by those critics to be redundant or sentimental or trite. Ahmad Jamal, sitting cheerily at the top of this post, is a case study of the latter phenomenon. Without actually having the numbers, I would hazard a guess that he was the top selling jazz artist (who anyone still listens to today) of 1959. “Poinciana” was running jukeboxes, and the success of At The Pershing inspired the rapidfire release of half a dozen more LPs. But Jamal is not generally cited as one of the canonical artists of 1959, or of jazz. Neither are Dinah Washington or Sarah Vaughan, who had their biggest hits (”What a Diff’rence A Day Made,” “Unforgettable,” “Broken-Hearted Melody”) in 1959. Same story with Erroll Garner, who sold out Carnegie Hall in 1959. Same with Ramsey Lewis, who spent all year on the Billboard charts with his remarkable album Down To Earth, as well as Jimmy Smith, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Shirley Scott, and many others. Ray Charles, in his completely idiosyncratic way, was plucking the friendliest parts from jazz and placing them into era-defining pop music. The difference isn’t in the quality of the music, it’s in who was listening.
December 23, 2025 at 10:36 PM
ohljazz.com
#TunesOnTuesday shares a song about struggling against winter weather in more ways than one. "Curious Weather" ohljazz.com/2025/12/23/t... #songwriting #songwriter #JazzSky
Tunes on Tuesday: Curious Weather
Why this tune? This week’s tune started in a lyric writing class with Marcy Heisler, an award-winning writer and performer. She and her writing partner Zina Goldrich are responsible for many …
ohljazz.com
December 23, 2025 at 4:03 PM
ohljazz.com
Thanks to @sethcotlar.bsky.social for literally bringing the (historical) receipts
sethcotlar.bsky.social Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 2d
In the summer of 1950 most US newspapers ran an AP story about how race had become the main issue in the upcoming Georgia governor's race. Segregationist Herman Tallmadge, governor from '47 to '55 and then a Senator until 1981 made a name for himself by refusing to "apologize for being a white man."
December 21, 2025 at 11:58 PM
ohljazz.com
Looking forward to #publicdomainday 2026 on January 1, when a new crop of songs (and books and films and other creative works) enters the public domain web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd.... Let the re-imagining continue! #songwriting #songwriter
Public Domain Day 2026 | Duke University School of Law
January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925! By Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle[1] CC BY 4.0 Please note that this site is only about US l...
web.law.duke.edu
December 17, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Oren Levine
500songspodcast.bsky.social
This festive season…The 500 Songs Patreon awaits you 🎄🎅

Treat yourself, support the podcast and gain access to a bustling backlog of exclusive episodes!

www.patreon.com/AndrewHickey
Get more from Andrew Hickey on Patreon
Creating Writing and Podcasts
www.patreon.com
December 14, 2025 at 10:17 PM
ohljazz.com
More #Hanukkah sounds! Enjoy these interpretations of holiday classics, one for each candle! Eight Songs for Eight Days on Bandcamp ohljazz.bandcamp.com/album/eight-... #JazzSky #holidaymusic #חנוכה
Eight Songs for Eight Days, by Oren Levine
8 track album
ohljazz.bandcamp.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:16 PM
ohljazz.com
#Hanukkah starts tonight! www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFKn... #JazzSky #jewishmusic #חנוכה
Hanukkah Light
YouTube video by Oren Levine
www.youtube.com
December 14, 2025 at 2:56 PM
ohljazz.com
#TunesOnTuesday shares the classic "Just the Two of Us," recorded by Grover Washington, Jr and Bill Withers. According to Wikipedia, you have this song to blame for the later explosion of "smooth jazz" #JazzSky ohljazz.com/2025/12/09/t...
Tunes on Tuesday: Just the Two of Us
Why this tune? This week’s tune is the product of a dream team of musical talent that crafted a #2 hit single and a standard of the R&B repertoire. “Just the Two of Us” was wr…
ohljazz.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:56 PM
ohljazz.com
We're back in DC to finish our move to the islands, just in time for the first December snow in eight years 🥶
Of course I have a song about it: Snow Day youtu.be/R7_Bcl3AIUQ #songwriting #songwriter #JazzSky #snow
Snow Day (lyrics video)
YouTube video by Oren Levine
youtu.be
December 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Oren Levine
hcrichardson.bsky.social
November 26, 2025
November 26, 2025
Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday…but not for the reasons we generally remember.
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:04 AM
ohljazz.com
Happy #Thanksgiving 🦃 to all who are celebrating tomorrow.
Enjoy my song for the season "Thanksgiving With Uncle Rob" recorded with Aaron Myers #JazzSky #holidaysongs #jazzsongs youtu.be/eJqrIHzkzJI
Thanksgiving With Uncle Rob
YouTube video by Oren Levine
youtu.be
November 26, 2025 at 9:44 PM
ohljazz.com
#TunesOnTuesday shares the start of a new song "Lost In the Words" inspired in part by a drum track from the Drumgenius app. Peter Eldridge suggested using a drum track for inspiration in a songwriting session on JazzVoice.com. #JazzSky #songwriting #songwriter ohljazz.com/2025/11/25/t...
Tunes on Tuesday: Lost In the Words
Why this tune? This week’s tune is the first draft of a new song,
inspired by a songwriting session with Peter Eldridge
hosted by JazzVoice.com. Peter suggested using a rhythm track as a star…
ohljazz.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:03 PM
ohljazz.com
@forward.com asks "why are there so many Jews named Irving?" For many of those first generation American Jews, their Hebrew name was their "real" name. Families chose English names to fit into Gentile society. forward.com/culture/7836...
Hey, Irving — why are there so many Jews named Irving?
A mystery of nomenclature finally solved — in honor of all the Jewish Miltons, Seymours, Sidneys and Irvings out there.
forward.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:27 PM
ohljazz.com
My current fav lyric: "A Dip In the Ocean" from #FountainsOfWayne. Every syllable seems chosen precisely for meaning and sound. #songwriting
"Tourists flashing the night
From the grottoes
And gathering now on the heel-worn planks
For a drunken promenade or a mambo"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIYE...
A Dip in the Ocean
YouTube video by Fountains of Wayne - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:27 AM
ohljazz.com
More superb recommendations from @ethaniversonpiano.bsky.social #JazzSky
November 19, 2025 at 9:58 PM
ohljazz.com
#TunesOnTuesday shares the 1972 Philly Soul classic "People Make The World Go Round," which I'm playing this month in some jazz shows on St. Croix with the fine vocalist Venus Dodson. Works great as an instrumental too! ohljazz.com/2025/11/18/t... #JazzSky #jazzpiano
Tunes on Tuesday: People Make The World Go Round
Why this tune? I was reacquainted with this week’s tune last week when vocalist Venus Dodson included it in the set list we’re performing this month on St. Croix. “People Make The…
ohljazz.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Oren Levine
tompeyer.bsky.social
Ponied up for a month of newspapers.com, went right to the New York Daily News and quickly found this gem from Feb 16, 1936.
(By United Press) Washington D.C., Feb. 13—Movie Czar Will Hays has banned the filming of a picture based on Sinclair Lewis' novel "It Can't Happen Here," Lewis said. The author said Hays was afraid the film might offend Adolpf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, or the Republican Party "which might win the next elections."
November 18, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Oren Levine
atrupar.com
"They want everyone to know these thugs they’ve deployed to terrorize cities are battle-hardened and impervious to pain. But in court, they're such delicate flowers that if they are, say, lightly grazed by a sandwich, they are entitled to justice because of the horrific assault they have suffered."
The softest Nazis you ever did see
They're tough guys in the streets and delicate little babies in court.
www.publicnotice.co
November 7, 2025 at 3:36 PM
ohljazz.com
#TunesOnTuesday shares my song "Bend Don't Break," celebrating the beauty and resilience of the Caribbean and its people. It's also an encouragement to support relief efforts in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and other regions affected by Hurricane Melissa. ohljazz.com/2025/11/04/t...
Tunes on Tuesday: Bend Don’t Break
Why this tune? Our hearts go out to the people of the Caribbean recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Melissa, the strongest hurricane ever to hit Jamaica and one of the strongest Atlantic h…
ohljazz.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:24 PM
ohljazz.com
In praise of #sisu 🇫🇮 from @economist.com (gift link): The Finnish lifestyle philosophy that could save Europe
www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
The Finnish lifestyle philosophy that could save Europe
Sisu, or grit in the face of adversity, is just what the continent needs
www.economist.com
November 1, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Oren Levine
mmasnick.bsky.social
Anyway, yet another reminder that "debate me bros" were always full of shit, and anyone who claims that they were actually about free speech or real discussion over ideas is lying or gullible.

www.techdirt.com/2025/09/17/t...
The “Debate Me Bro” Grift: How Trolls Weaponized The Marketplace Of Ideas
Among the attempts to create hagiographic eulogies of Charlie Kirk, I’ve seen more than a few people suggest that Kirk should be respected for being willing to talk to “those who disagree with him”…
www.techdirt.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Reposted by Oren Levine
radleybalko.bsky.social
Can't overstate how fucked up it is that unraveling what is arguably the greatest achievement in the history of humanity is now a motivating issue of one of the two dominant parties in the U.S.
October 31, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Reposted by Oren Levine
natechinen.bsky.social
Jack DeJohnette, just one of the deepest musicians ever, and a personal hero. Here is my obituary for NPR Music.
Jack DeJohnette, dynamic and instantly recognizable jazz drummer, dies at 83
Jack DeJohnette, of the most daring and singular jazz drummers of the last 60 years, died on Sunday.
www.npr.org
October 27, 2025 at 3:20 PM
ohljazz.com
Thanks @ethaniversonpiano.bsky.social for this comprehensive and personal tribute to the late Jack DeJohnette #JazzSky
October 29, 2025 at 3:10 PM
ohljazz.com
Any proposal that starts with the word "convince" is doomed to failure
davekarpf.bsky.social Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · Oct 28
Okay, let's get into the text...

Here are their bullet point recommendations: Talk about the economy! Don't talk about immigrants or climate or "social issues!" Criticize the ultra-wealthy, but in a very-not-socialist sort of way!

This is... just popularism? Didn't we already do this?
October 28, 2025 at 6:01 PM