Welcome to my music blog - The Soundtrack of My Life!

Many of you have asked me “What’s with all the music, Dr. Weiss?” Well, as I’ve told some of you:

I personally call every surgery patient on the evening of surgery just to make sure they are doing well and have no questions that need answering. Occasionally, I would be at the piano and play a song that we had listened to that day. I gradually realized that I wanted to go through all the music that I had played during my life and at least start making a list of the songs that I had recently played.

Well, there are now about 600 songs on the list and I realized that it in a way it represented the ‘soundtrack of my life’! And that’s how I got the idea to record these songs and share them with my patients, friends and family. After I record them they will reside here, for easy access.

Music is truth. It’s honest. It’s really the first social media, where in a way, people could share their souls directly. And isn’t that what the purpose of social media is and why it’s so popular - trying to share who you really are, as completely and directly as possible?

Finally, it has been (and will continue to be) a genuine pleasure sharing these different songs with you and I really appreciate all of your positive feedback!!

Musical Genres

Harry Belafonte as a young man, standing on a boat for an album cover, titled "The Best of Harry Belafonte."

Jamaica Farewell

April 25, 2023

"Jamaica Farewell" is a Jamaican-style folk song. The song appeared on Harry Belafonte's album Calypso. The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess (Irving Burgie), an American-born, half-Barbadan songwriter. It is about the beauties of the West Indian Islands. Many, including Belafonte himself, have said that the song was popular in the West Indies since long before Burgess. It is believed that Burgess compiled and modified the song from many folk pieces to make a new song. [from Wikipedia] The Kingston Trio, who led the folk revival of the late 1950s, took their name from the mention of Kingston, Jamaica in the song, though they only recorded it many years later, in 2006. I have an affinity for this song because of the time I’ve spent enjoying life in the Caribbean - especially in Jamaica. Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Bosendorfer piano sound - For this recording I’m playing a Yamaha Clavinova – which has the same keyboard action as a traditional acoustic piano, but there are no strings. Pressing a key activates (in this case) a sound which was sampled from a Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand piano. Try listening to it with a good set of headphones! It sounds better than any piano [...]
Chopin 1

Chopin Waltz in Gb major Op 70 No 1

March 1, 2023

Frederic Chopin Waltz in Gb Major, OP. 70, No 1 (3:31) On this day, March 1, 1810, Frederic Chopin was born in Poland. He was a Polish-French composer and pianist of the classical Romantic period. He moved to Paris at age 21 where he lived until his death at age 39 in 1849. Chopin was the master of the classical waltz, and the center section (Meno mosso at 0:53) is one of the most beautiful and sublime melodies that I know. Believe it or not, Chopin ultimately decided against publishing it, believing it unworthy of publication! However, lucky for us, it was published posthumously, after his death. I have played this waltz for years but have never felt that I have gotten my performance quite right, but I’m getting closer. I tend to play all of his waltzes rubato, which is the temporary disregarding of strict tempo to allow an expressive quickening or slackening, usually without altering the overall pace. I just know that I try to play it emotionally, as if it was pouring out of my (and Chopin’s) soul. Special Bonus Track: Waltz in G# Minor, Op. 64, No 2 (recorded February 29, 2024, 4:53) Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Dedicated to David G. and Charlie B. Some […]

Footprints

Footprints in the Sands of Time

January 1, 2023

Footprints on the Sands of Time Adapted from “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow New Year’s Day is always a moment during which many of us reflect on the passage of time. This year we have also been constantly reminded of our own mortality. So, it’s particularly appropriate that I present this song to you today, as it was something I wrote earlier during the pandemic. ‘Footprints on the Sands of Time’ is a phrase from “A Psalm of Life” by Longfellow, describing the legacy that individuals leave behind after they pass away. The poem attempts to describe nothing less than the purpose of life. In Longfellow’s optimistic view, though our body dies, the soul remains immortal. When we strive to lead ethical and moral lives of consequence, we will leave behind ‘footprints’ that others can follow as they pursue their own exceptional lives. Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year! Enjoy, Dr. Weiss “Music is the language spoken by angels.” Longfellow

Sinatra singing

That’s Life

December 12, 2022

That’s Life In Memory of Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra was born on this day (December 12) in 1915. I guess I gotta actually sing this one! My father took my brother and me and some friends to see Sinatra at Resorts International Casino, the first casino that opened in Atlantic City, at one of the first shows, if not the first. I’m from Philadelphia, and we spent our summers in Atlantic City, so my father had some good connections. We had a table literally adjacent to the stage and carte blanche! It was all very exciting, and I’ll never forget the look of satisfaction on my Dad’s face because he was able to take us all out in such a manner! And in the casino itself, it was like there was electricity in the air. Here’s to a great singer and bon vivant!  Happy Birthday, Frank! Enjoy Dr. Weiss Related Posts: The Things We Did Last Summer – my attempt at a ‘trumpet’ solo (I love this song!) (Or enter https://youtu.be/gHWa2CjyZFg in your browser, if you don’t like clicking on hyperlinks) All The Way – dedicated to my dear friend Pat D, who danced with Sinatra at her wedding! ( or enter https://youtu.be/Nyh4bOAXJEg in […]

Charlie Parker

Donna Lee - Indiana

August 29, 2022

Charlie Parker – Father of Bebop Donna Lee – Back Home Again in Indiana Well, this is an interesting story (to me, anyway!) It started back in Boston – no, actually, it started back in Hartford, Connecticut during my medical internship when my new housemate ended up being a jazz disc jockey drummer who first turned me on to Charlie Parker, the highly influential jazz saxophonist father of bebop (along with Dizzy Gillespie) – no, maybe it really started in first grade when the gifted kids in playing the bells were called down to the music teacher’s office (who was also the gym teacher, something I had a hard time comprehending) to offer them opportunities to learn different instruments to play in the school band and when he asked me what I wanted to play I somehow simulated a jazz bebop sax lead (something that I must have heard in my parents LP collection), and then he started asking me about my mouth and tongue (questions which I have since learned have to do with embouchure, what you do with the front part of your mouth lips and teeth in order to play the saxophone) and being the smart aleck […]

This old heart of mine anguished handsome black man showing this old heart of mine been broke a thousand times cartoon like van gogh pastel no text at all in image

This Old Heart of Mine

August 14, 2022

My (mini) Tribute to Lamont Dozier ‘Broken Hearted’ by Dall-E with Rick Weiss prompt: anguished handsome black man showing this old heart of mine been broke a thousand times cartoon like van gogh pastel no text at all in image This Old Heart of Mine (click to watch) Lamont Dozier passed away earlier this week. He sure made a lot of people happy as a member of Holland-Dozier-Holland, the songwriting and production team responsible for much of the Motown sound including songs like “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch”, “Stop in the Name of Love”, “Heat Wave”, “You Keep Me Hangin On” and “How Sweet It Is to be Loved by You” [Interesting fact: “How Sweet It Is” was inspired by one of the actor and comedian Jackie Gleason’s signature phrases, “How Sweet It Is!”] “This Old Heart of Mine” is one of my favorites. I mean, how can’t you like a love song with lyrics like “you got me never knowin’ if I’m comin’ or goin” and “but if you leave me a hundred times, a hundred times I’ll take you back.” Thanks, Lamont. Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Watch the Video!

Inventing champagne

The Night They Invented Champagne

August 6, 2022

Click on the mice to watch! This is a feel-good song from the award-winning 1958 American musical Gigi; the music was composed by Frederick Loewe and the lyrics were written by Alan Jay Lerner. The prompts for the AI illustrations mentioned inebriated festive french mice, and if you listen closely for the second verse I’ve tried to play a little wobbly! So although there may be continued uncertainty about our Covid future, tonight, by focusing on a bit of positive news, Let’s Celebrate! Enjoy, Dr. Weiss PS  Yes, Jackie, Tamara and I are finally back in the office seeing happy patients and doing eyelid surgery. Don’t worry – we’re all wearing N95 masks! PSS  Here are some of the ‘runners-up’ original Dall-E artificial intelligence illustrations. Which one do you like the best?

Russian children

Russians (2022)

June 1, 2022

Russian Children (they look like our children, don’t they?) ‘I Hope the Russians Love Their Children Too’ On this day (June 1) 42 years ago, Sting released this song on his first solo album. Sting wrote the lyrics to this 1985 song but borrowed the central theme from the second movement (‘Romance’) of Serge Prokofiev’s “Lieutenant Kijé Suite,” which begins at the 4:20 mark of this orchestral recording. Sting reharmonized Prokofiev’s theme by adding a short but profoundly unique bass line (in addition to creating a powerful original but thematically similar melody.) Prokofiev himself is said to have taken the theme from an old Russian folk song called “The Little Grey Dove is Cooing.”  [In playing this song, I’ve further discovered another possible source. Try singing the Christmas carol ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ (originating in the 1650s) over Sting’s lyrics.] With the current invasion of Ukraine, Prokofiev’s song is especially remarkable. In one of life’s extraordinary coincidences, Prokofiev was born in Sontsivka in 1891, in the Donetsk Oblast (region or state) of Ukraine – the very center of the area in eastern Ukraine that Putin is claiming to protect and liberate in 2022! It’s just 50 miles north of Mariupol, where the greatest […]