I’m honored to be performing at this year’s HillFest on October 12. This is the third annual free jazz festival put on by the Capitol Hill Jazz Foundation. It promises to be a memorable day of superb music. I’m planning a fun set featuring new arrangements of tunes from Making Up For Lost Time plus some other surprises.
The all-day festival on the 12th caps four days of activities, including a conference and education workshops.
At long last, my album of original songs “Making Up For Lost Time” is complete and ready for production, scheduled for release on November 7. The album features 11 compositions (9 with lyrics) and features 10 of the DC area’s top jazz performers.
I’m thrilled with how the music came out. I’m also thrilled with this super cover photo, shot by the brilliant DC photographer Darwyn M. Dave.
I hope you enjoy the finished product, coming soon to CD Baby (digital and CD) and your favorite digital music services.
It was Original Songs week on Jam Of The Week (week 244!), which gave me an opportunity to revisit “As Water Covers The Sea,” an instrumental piece I wrote a couple of years ago. While practicing the tune for the recording, I found a few bits that didn’t sound right to me, so I revised the melody and chords a bit to improve (IMO) the overall harmonic and melodic flow. I’m much happier with the revised version. Hope you enjoy it.
Just completed recording 11 tracks for an upcoming album of original tunes, which I hope to release later this year. I had the privilege of recording at the superb American University studios with Mike Harvey and his crew of talented graduate students, who made it easy for us to capture the work of 11 musicians in a variety of configurations.
I’m deeply grateful to the DC and Baltimore area artists who contributed their talents and ideas to this project:
I’m looking forward to hearing the final product and sharing it with you.
Thanks to Tony for the photos!
It’s a snow day in Washington, DC. Here’s some music for a day inside (hope it’s a warm place).
Here’s my music update for June 2016, featuring performances with some of my favorite people at favorite venues. In addition, I’ll be spending a week in Boston at the end of the month, as a student at the Berklee Summer Songwriting Workshop.
I’m looking forward to learning from their excellent faculty and the other participants. This is not specifically a “jazz” workshop, so it will be particularly exciting to learn about a much broader range of styles than I’m used to.
http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=147852bf72d7b1f91e8223d5a&id=3eb679adb6
Speaking of songwriting, here’s a live recording of one of my newest tunes, “The Heart Says,” sung here by Barbara Papendorp at one of our recent shows at Mr. Henry’s Restaurant on Capitol Hill.
Here’s my performance update for February 2016. As I noted in the update, I was honored this month to contribute a musical theme for Darwyn Dave’s new podcast “Dealing With My Grief.” Darwyn is a talented photographer who is actively documenting the DC jazz scene. I’ve benefited from many performance photos he has produced, and was more than happy to return the favor with this short composition:
This is my updated performance schedule for July, 2015. I look forward to seeing you at one or more of these events.
The Weekly DC Jazz Jam is back, at a new venue, The Brixton at the corner of 9th and U Sts NW in Shaw. I’m looking forward to reuniting with the second Sunday band for another exciting jam featuring some of the region’s best players.
For my first gig at Twins Jazz, I’ve invited several of my favorite musicians for an evening of original songs, familiar standards, and some surprises. Barbara Papendorp and Aaron Myers, vocals, Percy White, bass, Will Stephens, drums. Two sets, 8 pm and 10pm. $10 cover + $10 minimum
Aaron Myers starts his regular fourth Friday stand in the upstairs lounge at Mr. Henry’s on Capitol Hill, with me at the piano, Percy White on bass, and Will Stephens at the drums. Two-item minimum.
Joining BSQ for Sunday brunch as we continue our regular brunch performances at Malmaison, an elegant restaurant on the Georgetown waterfront.
For this year’s rare confluence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, I offer my musical tributes to both holidays, performed here by Barbara Papendorp and Russwin Francisco.
Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, Hag Urim Sameach, and best wishes for a warm and peaceful winter season.
Both of these were recorded live on Nov. 22, 2013, at the Black Fox Lounge in Washington, DC
Just in time for the holiday, here’s my musical tribute to Thanksgiving, which I had the joy of performing on Friday the 22nd with Barbara Papendorp and Russwin Francisco at my show at the Black Fox Lounge in Washington, DC. It’s called “Thanksgiving With Uncle Rob” in honor of my uncle by that name who is always so happy just to see the family get together.
Enjoy, and happy Turkey Day!
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and composer 