I found this story thanks to @miriamanzovin.bsky.social 's insightful (and delightful) commentary on the parsha. If you don't know her work you're missing out! www.instagram.com/reel/CuVNxLE...

#TunesOnTuesday shares another #Torah tune for Parashat Pinchas. "What About Us" tells the tale of the five daughters of Zelophehad who successfully petitioned to inherit their father's share in the Promised Land even though he didn't leave a male heir. #JewSky ohljazz.com/2026/06/09/t...

RIP James Blood UImer. My obit for NPR Music.

#TunesOnTuesday goes back to my Torah Tunes project with "On the March Again," a song for this week's portion Beha'alotcha (Numbers 8:1-12:16) inspired by the Israelites' joourney across the desert #torah #JewSky ohljazz.com/2026/06/02/t...

#TunesOnTuesday shares a short musical celebration of the Caribbean roots of the great Sonny Rollins, who we lost this week on May 25. A medley of two Caribbean tunes he recorded: "Hold Em Joe" and "St. Thomas." ohljazz.com/2026/05/26/t... #JazzSky #jazzpiano #solopiano #sonnyrollins

@marisakabas.bsky.social makes a clear case that generative AI is an attack on our agency. I like to think that my weekly posts of (AI-free) songs to LinkedIn are a small counter to the endless AI boosterism over there

Thanks to the Today Explained podcast from @vox.com for the shout-out to St. Croix and Buck Island in their excellent May 19 episode about the Transportation Secretary's road trip www.vox.com/today-explai... #stcroix #usvi

#TunesOnTuesday shares an updated version of my song "We Hate the Same Way," on the list for an album I'm recording this fall! #songwriting #songwriter #JazzSky ohljazz.com/2026/05/19/t...

#TunesOnTuesday shares a new version of my surprise hit "The Last Banana." 🍌 It was a thrill to share it with the Cast Party audience in NYC! ohljazz.com/2026/05/12/t... #JazzSky #songwriter #songwriting #bananas

#TunesOnTuesday returns to the standards with a short interpretation of Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays" #JazzSky ohljazz.com/2026/05/05/t... (not to be confused with my new song "Tell Me About Yesterday," another melancholy ballad about lookng back to the past)

I agree, many important writers are missing from this list, but thanks to the NYT I (finally?) heard Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields. #songwriting

As the writer of a song called "Stand Right" I object to this new policy #songwriting #subway m.koreaherald.com/article/1072...

Another fine episode of Code Switch from @npr.org featuring Daniel Immerwahr, author of the excellent "How to Hide an Empire." As a new resident of the US Virgin Islands I'm learning first hand about life at the edge of the American empire #USVI share.google/31ZbIpcJGaM8...

Israeli former general Ya'akov Or: "Jewish violence, terrorism, and pogroms are a brutality that taints every Israeli, left and right. These are metastases that will spread until the disease is terminal, and it is critical to stop them while possible."

You must take the A train To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem If you miss the A train You'll find you missed the quickest way to Harlem

I wrote a song about this 🙂🎶 "Tech Can't Fix People" youtu.be/ksFKnqm_lB8

Nancy Wilson at the end of the first verse of "The Old Country" (and really the whole song!) youtu.be/aWElAxatI4Y?...

Love this story. I'm a bit disappointed that even with all that review the final song includes a questionable scansion of "guardians."

#TunesOnTuesday shares a new song "Tell Me About Yesterday," a collaboration with the talented lyricist Mitalee Christman, who I met in Scarlet Keys' weekly object writing class! We're already working on another one. #songwriter #songwriting #modernsongbook #JazzSky ohljazz.com/2026/04/14/t...

#TunesOnTuesday shares a song for the end of #Passover. "Plague" transforms the story of the Ten Plagues into a bluesy breakup song. ohljazz.com/2026/04/07/t... #modernsongbook #bluessong #jazzsong #songwriter #songwriting

Today the Knesset passed a deeply immoral populist death sentence law. Its existence is abhorrent, and its content is discriminatory and disgusting, and even if it's struck down its passing is a shame. I miss my grandfather. I think Israel does too. 2/2

#TunesOnTuesday shares a highlight from Aaron Myers' visit to St Croix, his interpretation of "My Funny Valentine" recalling some of our best shows at the old Black Fox Lounge in DC. Kudos to Mario Thomas for providing that critical bass riff! ohljazz.com/2026/03/24/t...

Super bleak and super accurate

Joe Kent's resignation letter is an antisemitic tract — the ur-text of a "stabbed in the back" myth that could do enormous damage to American Jews www.vox.com/politics/482...

#TunesOnTuesday shares a new song "Tech Can't Fix People," my first attempt at producing a complete track. The title was y conclusion after a 20+ year career in various technology jobs. Find the track on Bandcamp ohljazz.bandcamp.com and the video on my YouTube Channel. ohljazz.com/2026/03/17/t...

Looks like "Stand Right, Walk Left" has international appeal! I offer our song as a way to educate new riders of the Tube #standright #walkleft #subway #tube #JazzSky www.london-now.co.uk/news/2591952...

Happy to say that I contribute to @andrewhickey.500songs.com and his essential '500 Songs' podcast. Happy to listen to the next episodes whenever they're ready. If you love music, check it out! Take your time Mr. Hickey.

Anyone want to translate our song "Stand Right" to French to help our friends in Montreal? Looks like DC rules apply there as well #subway #escalator #JazzSky #metro www.mtlblog.com/living-in-mo...

Love this headline from @404media.co "AI is African Intelligence"

For #TunesOnTuesday this week I'm revisiting my 2021 release "Island in the Sea" in honor of Aaron Myers' visit to St. Croix this week for a concert at CMCArts. Find the complete video at lnkd.in/eS4f2hJm ohljazz.com/2026/03/10/t...

#TunesOnTuesday takes a break from the original songs this week to share Thelonious Monk's beautiful "Reflections" ohljazz.com/2026/03/03/t... #JazzSky #jazzpiano #solopiano

My ongoing thesis is that a ton of people have no memory, personal or cultural, of how bad things can be in a country, because we've had such a good run post-WW2 and the Greatest Generation has mostly passed away.

“Our nation is back — bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before,” President Trump said to start his #SOTU address. 📊👀 But what does the data say? See it all here: bit.ly/3OxrLC6

#TunesOnTuesday shares the third iteration of "Breathing In Time," which started during my January song-a-day challenge this year. #songwriting #songwriter #JazzSky #rewriting ohljazz.com/2026/02/24/t...

I spent months studying how authoritarians like Trump lose. The answer is shockingly simple. www.vox.com/politics/479...

I just read Bob Hoffman's latest Ad Contrarian newsletter promoting the repeal of the famous Section 230 typeagroupllc.cmail19.com/t/d-e-gdhuuu... It's as a good a reason as any to share this essential explanation from @techdirt.com about why that's a very bad idea www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/h...

It was a thrill to join Melinda De Rocker for a chat with Neville James on the radio at WTJX on St Croix, sharing our stories and music before our show at the Galleon on island on Feb. 21 www.podbean.com/ew/pb-hyr4g-... #JazzSky

A White Historian Claimed That Black People ‘Had No History.’ This Trailblazing Scholar Dedicated His Life to Proving Otherwise Carter G. Woodson, the “father of Black history,” founded the celebration now known as #BlackHistoryMonth in 1926. www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-...

As @brunojnavarro.bsky.social asks, Why, given the reality of the role, should ICE officers be armed at all?

#TunesOnTuesday shares another adventure in rewriting. I wrote the first version of "The Muse Knows" in 2021 and wasn't very happy with it. After several attempts over the years I found a better song for that title last month. #songwriting #songwriter ohljazz.com/2026/02/10/t...

for more about the "Biblical case for border security" and about the political philosophy motivating religious zealots like Mike Johnson and what makes them see the world this way and seek power in it i spent 3 years writing a book about the movement he's part of bookshop.org/p/books/wild...

#TunesOnTuesday shares version 2 of "The Smile In Your Eyes" from last month's challenge. After the writing comes the rewriting... #songwriter #songwriting #rewriting ohljazz.com/2026/02/03/t...

In Springfield, Ohio, people are preparing in advance of a “large deportation” promised by the president. To all appearances, the city is 2 or 3 days from a federal ethnic cleansing, grounded in a hate campaign organized by the vice-president and American Nazis. snyder.substack.com/p/ethnic-cle...

I testified Friday before Gov. Pritzker's commission studying abuses of ICE and CBP and tried to explain how the agencies went so far off track. It's actually way worse than I ever realized. Please read and share my testimony as Congress considers reform: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/accountabi...

The last day (!) of my January song-a-day challenge organized by Songwriting for Music Educators. "Broken Screen" started as a writing exercise. This is the second version of the lyrics #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/za486...

Day 30 of my January song-a-day challenge. It's my first day in my new music space on St. Croix, which of course inspired a song. Thanks to Cole Porter's "It's All Right With Me" for giving me the starting point. #songwriter #songwriting #JazzSky youtube.com/shorts/9qFDw...

Day 29 of my January song-a-day challenge (lots of writing yesterday but no recording). "Mama Don't Cuss" started with a Bluesky post reading "Auntie don't cuss at the AI." I liked the concept but thought "mama" scanned better as a lyric #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/6iL8f...

Day 27 of my January song-a-day challenge. "Leave a Fresh Footprint" was inspired by a remark from a friend while shoveling snow: "When your snow reminds you of your childhood and your muscles remind you of your age" #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/AL7sp...

Day 26 of my January song-a-day challenge. I saw a rainbow this morning, which led to "The Power of a Rainbow" (following today's song form prompt from Kat and Sarah at Songwriting for Music Educators!) #songwriting #songwriter youtube.com/shorts/PZxzs...