#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...

Curious why ICE and CBP agents are so brutal? Here's a useful explainer I wrote last week, before Saturday's outrageous murder, about how uniquely unsuited ICE and CBP are for this moment—and why they were so corruptible into Trump's own fascist secret police: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-101-ho...

Day 25 of my January song-a-day challenge. The feel for "Leave a Little Mystery" was inspired by a tasty Billy Higgins drum loop from drumgenius. #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/zTWyt...

Day 24 of my January song-a-day challenge. Thanks to #MissManners for this one. She responded "May you two have a long and happy life together focusing on your various grudges." I found a love song there. Here's "We Hate the Same Way" #songwriting #songwriter youtube.com/shorts/pITPK...

For Day 23 of my January song-a-day challenge, I reworked "Breathing in Time" from the 19th, adding a verse and setting the words to a brighter blues feel. Sending island breezes to my friends and family in the path of this weekend's winter blast. #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/ciQb3...

Check out "Beachside Grooves," an EP of three songs in different styles from different bands, sharing a common beachy theme. Now available on your favorite stream distrokid.com/hyperfollow/... #JazzSky #beach #songwriter #songwriting

Day 22 of my January song-a-day challenge. The title "Damn the Budget" came from a group of our friends. That turned into this bossa nova tune about spending a bit more on those little extras #songwriting #songwriter youtube.com/shorts/DoK0h...

Day 21 of the Songwriting for M.E. January challenge. I saw a potion for sale in a local store labeled "Do My Will." That inspired this tone poem about dark forces and breakfast coffee, preposition-free per today's prompt #songwriting #songwriter youtube.com/shorts/yEiud...

I won a prize from the Harvard Shorenstein Center for my newsletter, Popular Information. “Legum has built a model of journalism that combines meticulous investigative reporting with clear, accessible explanations of how power operates—and who benefits."

Fascinating connection between the current #Greenland fracas and the US Virgin Islands (where I live). The current President apparently agrees with the NYT and Admiral Peary that the US lost out by excluding Greenland from the 1916 deal for the purchase of the Islands from Denmark.

#TunesOnTuesday shares my song for Day 20 of my January song-a-day challenge: "Ready To Change" expresses musically my long-standing grumble that everyone wants to change but nobody wants to do anything different. #songwriter #songwriting ohljazz.com/2026/01/20/t...

January song-a-day challenge Day 19: "Breathing In Time" is the short start of a song. I can always write a tune about the beach :-) #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/Va6Zu...

Day 18 of my January song-a-day challenge organized by Songwriting for ME. "The Muse Knows" is a reworking of a song I started in 2019! #songwriting #songwriter #rewriting youtube.com/shorts/ZmRJz...

Day 17 of the January song-a-day challenge: "Let Them" combined another lyrics class prompt, a Clyde Stubblefield #funk groove and a bunch of rhyming verbs #songwriting #songwriter youtube.com/shorts/3Wchx...

Day 16 of my January 2026 song-a-day challenge. This is what happens when you put a bunch of unrelated new and old song ideas in a document and mix them together. I added some harmonic adventures and got "The World Rearranged." #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/bVrgC...

For day 15 of this year's January song-a-day challenge, a song inspired by this week's #Torah portion Vaera (וארא), where we read the beginning of the story of the Ten Plagues that preceded the Exodus #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/lnQRy...

Celebrating #nationalbagelday with my tribute to this favorite nosh I wrote last year. "Bagel Day" youtu.be/qsPKXi3oxwA #bagel #songwriter #songwriting

#TunesOnTuesday shares today's entry in my January song-a-day challenge, a reworking of my Torah Tune "Pay the Band" from a couple of years ago. It's a musician's take on the Torah command to "pay out the wages due on the same day" #JazzSky #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/wCV70...

Day 12 of the Songwriting for ME January challenge. "One For the Headache" explains why I couldn't post anything on the 11th. To the tune of "One For My Baby" by Harold Arlen #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/ZmOOY...

For Day 10 of the Songwriting For ME January challenge, I'm channeling the ghosts of Tin Pan Alley with "Year After Year" in a classic American songbook style. #songwriter #songwriting youtube.com/shorts/Fqu__...