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!!
Wishing all the mothers out there the happiest of days on their special day! Of course, as we all know, the day is merely symbolic – you should celebrate your mother EVERY day ?. Here’s a famous piece of music called “Claire de Lune” by Claude Debussy. I played it for my mother 40 years ago at her wedding and I’m happy to share it with you all well! You’ll learn a bit more about Debussy and his similarities to another of my favorite musicians, Stevie Wonder, a bit later today. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this “classic” Mother’s Day treat.
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to share this quick session I had with Aileen F., an Irish friend of mine who lives in Limerick, Ireland. She was happy to share this authentic and traditional Irish song with all of us – I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did! What a beautiful voice! Did you guys get a chance to catch last year’s St. Patrick’s Day post? If you missed last year’s St. Patrick’s Day video, it’s never too late to watch and learn about pennywhistles and hear my version of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”!
Merry Christmas to all my friends, family and family of patients! I hope the holidays have brought you peace, health and happiness! Well, that’s it for this holiday season. I hope you’ve enjoyed my Christmas Music Countdown – I know I’ve enjoyed playing these songs and sharing them with you.
We’re getting close! And if you ignore the bright sun, blue skies, and squint a little, you might even begin to notice it’s…well…beginning to look a lot like Christmas! ?. I hope you enjoy today’s classic Christmas standard!
Slipping Into Christmas Hi guys, Here’s something a little different! I was feeling a little under the gun by committing to my Christmas song countdown, so I put this song together quickly last night. It’s an old Leon Russell tune called ‘Slipping into Christmas’ from 1972. For some reason it has haunted me for years! Two firsts: 1- Dr. Weiss singing (I was told once never to sing in public!). 2- my first attempt at lip-syncing (almost all music videos are lip synced!). Anyway, both done on the first take (c’mon, I’m a professional surgeon, not a professional musician!) But it’s alright – it’s just between us: my family, friends and family of patients, and it’s just what I would play for you if you were in my living room. Definitely not looking for a record deal. So. please enjoy today’s somewhat obscure Christmas song. Dr. Weiss
Christmas is inching closer, but I doubt we’ll be seeing the sights described in this classic song. Today’s piano interpretation is “Winter Wonderland”. A bit of trivia for you all – while regarded as a Christmas song, the song never actually mentions the holiday and is considered more of simply a winter song!
As promised for my patients and friends, let’s count down to Christmas together! One a day until Christmas! We’ll start off with an uptempo version of the holiday classic “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Enjoy!
This blog is a tribute to the New Orleans Jazz Fest that started today and runs this weekend and next weekend. First of all, I want to give a shout out to everyone having a great time down there! I sure wish I could have made it down this year. As jazz enthusiasts have been saying every year around this time: Next Year, in New Orleans! Playing a simple piano rendition of ‘Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans’ reminds me of so many good memories over the years. Here are a few. (Click on the photos for better detail.) You just can’t stop dancing from the moment you get to the fairgrounds around noon. Plenty of alligators and crawfish and colorful looking people. Plenty of fiddlin’ around. You basically can’t not dance to Springsteen swinging acoustic. I took this photo of the inside of a grocery store in one of the Parishes that was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. One of the most moving performances I’ve ever seen anywhere was Springsteen at the first JazzFest (2006) after Katrina (which was August 2005). The day was cloudy, but when he came on in the late afternoon, the […]
Baseball season strikes again! That means it’s time to swap March Madness for your baseball cap, dust off your baseball mitt and get ready to celebrate “America’s pastime”! In honor of baseball season, I made a cover of the song, “Take Me Out To the Ball Game!”, the unofficial theme for baseball. The song was composed in 1908 by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer. I hope you enjoy my little baseball haiku! Feel free to use it as a ringtone, share with your friends or even give us a shout out on Twitter (@drRichardWeiss) if you’re feeling so inspired! Play Ball!
