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

La Vie En Rose

La Vie En Rose

December 27, 2025

La Vie En Rose (3:17) Édith Piaf “La Vie En Rose” literally translates to “life in pink,” but it’s a French idiom that means to see life through rose-colored glasses, or to view life in a happy, optimistic, or romantic way. It conveys a feeling of bliss and happiness, often brought on by being in love. It is the signature song of legendary French singer Édith Piaf, written in 1945. The song became very popular in the United States in 1950, when seven versions reached the Billboard charts including covers by Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, and of course, Louis Armstrong. OK, this is interesting.  You would think that a songwriter would know an immortal hit when they wrote it. Right? However, Piaf’s peers and songwriting team did not think the song would be successful, finding it weaker than the rest of her repertoire. Heeding their advice, the singer put the song aside, only to change her mind the next year. It was performed live in concert for the first time in 1946. However, “La Vie En Rose” became a favorite with audiences and was the song that made Piaf internationally famous! It’s lyrics expressed the joy of finding true love and appealed to those […]

Que reste t il de nos amours horizontal for web

Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours

December 26, 2025

Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours (5:10) (I Wish You Love) Today here are two versions for your listening pleasure (audio only on youtube): “Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours” – French lyrics only “Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours”- simultaneous French-English ‘inline translation’ “Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours” is a beautiful song by French singer/songwriter Charles Trenet and first recorded in 1943. You may recognize it from the English language version recorded in 1957 – “I Wish You Love” – made famous by Frank Sinatra and many others. This song not only gives me a chance to brush up on my French but is a great example of how lyrics in different languages can completely transform the meaning and character of a song. “I Wish You Love” is fairly lighthearted with Tin Pan Alley rhymes (see below), but the original French lyrics reveal a much more wistful, nostalgic and sentimental tone. If you are still with me after listening to my singing translation of the original French, compare the feeling of the song with the English ‘I Wish You Love’ lyrics by Albert Beach: I wish you bluebirds in the spring To give your heart a song to sing And then a kiss, but more than […]

Aint Misbehavin

Ain’t Misbehavin’

December 19, 2025

Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1:09) Thomas “Fats” Waller This is such a cool song! I dug it up from a previous post and decided to add a vocal. If you don’t know about Fats Waller, you should.  Check him out on Wikipedia and Youtube.  One thing I remember is that shaking hands with him was like shaking hands with a bunch of bananas!  He was a character among characters!Enjoy, Dr. Weiss

Chopin illustration with button

Polonaise in Ab Major

December 18, 2025

Polonaise in Ab Major Op. 53 (1:49) Frédéric Chopin The Polonaise in A♭ major, Op. 53 is a solo piano piece composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1842. It is one of Chopin’s most admired compositions and has long been a favorite of the romantic piano repertoire. Pianist Arthur Rubinstein (one of the few who could play this challenging piece as written) once called it “the composition which is the closest to my heart.” The original piece requires exceptional piano skills and great virtuosity – a degree of proficiency that I cannot aspire to, at least in this lifetime.At first, I wasn’t going to record and share this simple arrangement, well, because it is such a simple arrangement. But what compelled me to record this tonight was that the melody and rhythms are so iconic and beautiful, and why not share this little snippet with you, which can be appreciated in less than two minutes.Anyway, enjoy this timeless and instantly recognizable melody.Dr. Weiss Some info from Wikipedia

Body and Soul blue

Body and Soul

December 16, 2025

Body and Soul (5:10) “Body and Soul” is a popular song and jazz standard written in 1930 with music by Johnny Green. Louis Armstrong was the first jazz musician to record “Body and Soul” in October 1930, and it went on to become one of the most recorded jazz standards in history. James Moody James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player and very occasional vocalist, playing predominantly in the bebop and hard bop styles. “Body and Soul” is considered a challenging piece to solo over; however, the unusual nature of the chords provides a lot of improvisational freedom which Moody certainly takes advantage of in this rendition. Eddie Jefferson, James Moody and Vocalese. Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist’s improvisation [slightly different than a contrafact, which is a musical composition (no lyrics) consisting of a new melody overlaid on a familiar harmonic structure, see related post below]. Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsense words in solos. Anyway, Eddie Jefferson was captivated by James Moody’s talent and put lyrics to one of James Moody’s solos to “Body and Soul”. How this […]

Green green grass of home

Green, Green Grass of Home

December 15, 2025

Green, Green Grass of Home (3:00) “Green, Green Grass of Home“, written by Claude “Curly” Putman Jr., and first recorded by singer Johnny Darrell in 1965, is a country song made popular by Porter Wagoner. In my opinion, it is one of the great country songs. Tom Jones learned the song from Jerry Lee Lewis and, in 1966, he had a worldwide No. 1 hit with it. The song was also recorded by, among others, Joan Baez, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Ceelo Green, Merle Haggard, Kenny Rogers, George Jones, Charlie Pride and even Roy Rogers. A true country classic. Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Some info from Wikipedia Related Weiss Country Music post: I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

Minuet in G Beethoven image

Minuet in G Beethoven

December 14, 2025

  Here is a very sublime dose of Beethoven to start the day. Minuet in G (3:04) Ludwig van Beethoven First of all, I didn’t realize until today that it’s Ludwig van Beethoven rather than Ludwig von Beethoven. Or that the piece was originally written for orchestra but was lost to posterity. Only an arrangement for piano exists. It is a very popular piece, especially among beginning pianists, which is how I learned it.I may play the middle part (Trio) a little fast, but that’s how it feels to me today. I’ve known this tune so long that I play it (and everything else, actually) a bit rubato, imagining that I am conducting myself and taking liberties that the composer might have done when playing for a friend in his salon.By the way, rubato (Italian for “stolen time”) is a musical technique where a performer subtly speeds up and slows down the tempo for expressive effect, creating a “give-and-take” in rhythm without losing the overall pulse, allowing for emotional shaping of phrases. I guess I tend to play ‘rubato plus’ because many times I also vary the overall pulse.However it is played, it is beautiful and firmly established in Western musical culture. Enjoy, Dr. Weiss […]

Sweet Emily with play button

Sweet Emily

December 13, 2025

  Sweet Emily (3:05) Leon Russell “Sweet Emily” was on Leon Russell’s second solo album Leon Russell and the Shelter People released in 1971, my second year of college at NYU. He has earned six gold records and he received two Grammy Awards from seven nominations. In 1973 Billboard named Russell the “Top Concert Attraction in the World”. In 2011, he was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Russell collaborated with pretty much everyone of note in the music business, to name a few: Joe Cocker, the Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison,  Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Ike & Tina Turner, and the Rolling Stones. One of his early fans, Elton John, said that Russell was a “mentor” and an “inspiration”. Believe it or not (it’s true! – see the meeting flyer below), I once put on an international multi-specialty medical conference in Deer Valley and I got Leon Russell to perform. Pretty crazy, eh? So here is a version that I dedicated to my patient Emily earlier this year. Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Some info from Wikipedia

Try a little tenderness Shearing illustraton.

Try A Little Tenderness

December 12, 2025

Try a Little Tenderness (2:35) “Try a Little Tenderness”   is a song written in 1932 by Harry M. Woods (music), Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly (lyrics). This version is in the style of George Shearing. His harmonies are so rich, and chordal reharmonizations so unique and full, that it makes you want to linger on every note and chord. His chord voicings and the way he moves between them are unmistakably distinctive. It’s worth a close listen. I didn’t realize it was such a popular standard when I first learned it from a transcription of George Shearing as a teen.  After all these years, it blew me away when I just recently listened to Otis Redding’s classic R&B version!  Bing Crosby recorded it in 1933, and the song appeared on Frank Sinatra’s debut album in 1946!  Other covers: Michael Bublé, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Percy Sledge, Frankie Valli, Al Jarreau, Jimmy Durante, Rod Stewart, Michael Bolton, Peggy Lee, Nancy Wilson, and the Glee Cast, among others. Back to Otis Redding. A popular version in an entirely new form was recorded by soul artist Otis Redding in 1966. Redding was backed on his version by Booker T and the MGs.  This […]

Al In Love Iw Fair

All In Love is Fair

December 11, 2025

All In Love Is Fair (2:43) Like much of the rest of the world, I appreciate the genius of Stevie Wonder. Even though I usually prefer to let the sampled piano ‘sing’ for me, I’ve decided to try to sing this one. I guess if you were here in my living room, I might be persuaded to try to sing the song, so here it is. Enjoy,Dr. Weiss