I've been writing songs since about the 4th grade - hopefully they're getting better every year. These days I like to think that my tunes combine memorable melodies with clever lyrics. My songwriting style draws from a long list of diverse influences that includes Johnny Mercer, Dave Frishberg, Bobby Darin, Was Not Was, Sam Cooke, Louis Jordan, Donald Fagen and Antonio Carlos Jobim. My passion for jazz started during childhood when my dad, a professional musician, filled my young head with the sounds of everything from Django Reinhardt to Louis Prima.An early highlight occurred when one of my original tunes “Fred The Head†was heard across the country on the syndicated radio program, “The Dr. Demento Show†when I was still a teenager. My first "career" job was when I was hired as a jazz dj and eventually became the Music Director at a KPLU FM.After graduating from college in Broadcast/Journalism I pursued my dream of becoming a television producer. I started as a production assistant but was eventually given the opportunity to produce and write a feature piece. I chose to do a story on jazz pianist extraordinaire Barney McClure who was running for Mayor of Port Townsend. Barney won the election and my story on him won a Sigma Delta Chi award for journalism. I was eventually promoted and I've been a producer/writer in the TV biz ever since.Throughout my career I've had some great opportunities to combine my love of music with writing and producing documentaries. Highlights include an Emmy award-winning documentary I produced in Liverpool and London featuring legendary record producer George Martin and The Beatles. I was also the field producer on another award winning music documentary entitled, “Seattle To Stardom†. This show profiled the careers of Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, and Ernestine Anderson.My jingles, music videos, and television theme songs have earned me the Northwest Regional Emmys as “Best Composer†three times. There's not a lot that I've found that I take to naturally, but fortunately TV producing and songwriting have always come second nature to me. I'm proud to say that my office bookcases are currently anchored by 41 regional Emmys, Gold Awards from both The New York Film Festival and Chicago Film Festival, and 4 Tellys. As the producer of the syndicated show, FRONT RUNNERS (1986 – 1996), my work found a national audience in top television markets including New York, LA, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Washington DC.Turning my attention to the musical world, my first CD, “New York City How Do You Do?†featured what I guess I'd call me signature tune, “Let’s Pretend We’re Famous†as well as many songs originally featured on the television show, “How ‘Bout That!†Collaborations with Tim Noah on more than 75 songs have also put some of my songwriting efforts in front of thousand of kids. I feel that my latest effort, “His Master’s Tunesâ€, features some of my best efforts to date. This CD features original tunes performed by a variety of superb jazz vocalists. JAZZ BAND IN HEAVEN pays tribute to jazz masters from Miles, Trane, Bird and Bix to Duke, Count and The King Of Swing (Benny Goodman) and as the lyrics state, “Ella’s the belle of the ballâ€. A SONG OF YOU is a very Jobim-esque bossa where melody and lyrics intertwine as well as anything I've written. That's thanks to some great melodic ideas from my college roommate, Mark Reiman.
My current quest is to find jazz vocalists who will sing my tunes live and on CD so that they might find a wider audience. In that effort, I was recently contacted by Carmen Bradford (4 time Jazz Grammy-winner) who has decided to add my song "JAZZ BAND IN HEAVEN" in her repertoire. Thanks Carmen! I spoke to Ms. Bradford (a Count Basie Band alum) recently on the phone and she assured me that she's going to feature the tune on her current tour which will include Bangkok, Singapore (performing for the Prime Minister) and The Jarkata International Jazz Festival. I'm thrilled to say the least. Deborah "Debo" Davis recently featured two of my tunes at The Blue Note in NYC...and I keep hearing from people in Paris and London claiming that my songs are getting great reactions there. Now how about the rest of you with the pipes to take these originals into a whole new stratosphere? Please give the songs on this site listen and serious consideration. Nobody would be more honored than me. I'm happy to send lead sheets, lyrics, and MP3s to serious performers looking for new material.Thanks, Ken
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