A showcase of original works, including Keith's collaborations with others, most of which are engineered and produced by Keith.

Keith's career spans decades of writing songs and instrumentals in many genres--from intimate solo piano to jazz combos, pop bands, symphonic bands, and full orchestras--for artists, ads, TV, theater, film, and audiobooks.  His work has been used by Grammy-nominated artist Bryan Duncan and renowned author and poet, Nikki Grimes.

Off the Shelf (Sampler)

A catchy, happy Christmas song with a touch of sentimentality about going home, in a traditional-but-modern, Michael Bublé, Frank Sinatra, or Harry Connick, Jr. style, featuring a male lead vocal, male and female background singers, jazz rhythm section, strings, bells, vibes, male scat solo, and jazz piano solo.  Consider for ads, TV, or film as people gather in a home decorating a tree, pack their bags, drive home, walk through the airport, gaze out the window of an airplane, skate on a frozen pond, enjoy a sleigh ride, and more.

Home for the Holidays

Suddenly Flying - Home For The Holidays (feat. Christopher Weeks)

An upbeat, acoustic pop song about getting through separation and tough times, supporting each other long distance and looking forward to better days ahead.

Features musical composition, production, audio engineering/mixing/mastering of vocal solo, background singers, large ensemble singers, acoustic guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, and sound libraries.

We're In This Together

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We're In This Together (Indie Pop)

From the full-stage musical, Beyond This Point. In this scene, Dad inspires a young Jules and Mel with visions of space exploration, discovery, and imagination.

Featuring musical composition, production, audio engineering/mixing/mastering, vocal solos, voice acting, vocal ensemble, sound design, sound effects, and sound libraries.

Out There (from Beyond This Point)

Out There (Stage Production)

Song selections from Beyond This Point, an exploration of loves lost and found.

Beyond This Point:  A Musical of Global Proportions

Shadow Play | A Breath Away | Come Alive | Beyond This Point (Reprise) - DEMO

Returning from the flashback of their childhood, in front of Saceldo’s Chairs which are now a clearing at the base of a rock face in the rainforest–a cathedral of nature–Mel delivers a lesson to her students about Chladni plates, bees, and frequencies, which becomes a wild production number featuring dance styles from the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.

[For lyrics and cues, follow this link:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q-EOPZM0x_QXzRNG9sWaAyg9LR59jSNb/view?usp=drive_link]

C is the Key of Bee (Strange Honey) (Mel, Jules, Students) - DEMO

While reliving her “bike ride of the explorers” with JULES one perfect afternoon during their childhood, overwhelmed by the beauty of the world, MEL expresses her deep longing, inspired by the discovery that the earth and its inhabitants are all part of one life—one grand, intricate dance.

JULES:  I don’t ever want this to end.

MEL:  Me, too.  I feel so…small.

JULES:  I feel huge!  Larger than life!  Infinite!  Isn’t it beautiful?

MEL:  It’s more than that.

MEL:
(sing) There is something bigger going on here
Bigger than you, smaller than me
Something intricate, something vast
And lasting longer than the sea
Can you see it?

Everything belongs, everything
Everything belongs, everything
Everything belongs, everything belongs

The seed belongs to the earth
The earth gives life to the fruit
The bee belongs to the flower
That gives honey to the hive

The sun belongs to the leaf
That gives air to the sky
The shadow belongs to the tree
And I belong to everything
That I can see and cannot see

Everything belongs, everything
Everything belongs, everything
Everything belongs, everything belongs

The shadow finds its shape and measures its length
By the angle of light, purple beneath
I want to shine like the sun, ripen like the seed
Glow like the leaf, breathe like the tree
Give blue to the sky, spread flowers like the bee
Give shade like the tree, I want to belong to it all

I want to be blue, I want to be green, I want to be leaf and sea
I want to be you, I want to be me, how I was made to be

Everything belongs, hah!  You and me!
Everything belongs, everything
Everything belongs, everything belongs

I want to belong to it all!
I want to belong to it all!
I want to belong to it all!
I want to belong to it all!

I want to belong to it all

I want my life to blend with every color I see
Where do I fit?  How can I belong?
How can I give life to all this beauty
That gives all this life to me?
_____

SPECIAL THANKS to Charissa Hogeland for singing the part of MEL, Victoria Field for voicing the speaking part of MEL, and and to Jessica Kuipers for singing the female ensemble parts.

Everything Belongs (Mel, Ensemble) - DEMO

JULES and MEL recall one unforgettable evening from their childhood.

DAD:  (Standing up, looking at the rising moon) Yep.  They're up there right now.  We put ‘em down right on the edge of the Sea of Tranquility.

JULES AND MEL:  (Looking up in awe, whispering together) So boss!

DAD:  
(Speak)  They're going to televise it tonight...from the lunar surface.  Out there are vast stretches of the unknown, unanswered, unfinished.
(Sing) Out there, beyond the Sea of Tranquility, lies mystery
With secrets that will lead us
Beyond all we know or have ever known and feed us
Out there, beyond gravity, beyond fear
Beyond earth’s atmosphere
Are deeper seas of possibility
Thoughts reach escape velocity
Approaching the speed of MC squared
And our hearts are suddenly
Weightless!

J+M+ENSEMBLE:  Weightless!
DAD:  Out there!        
ALL:  Out there!

DAD:  
The laws of gravity no longer apply
Old laws that bind our hearts and mind
Keep us blind to what  we’ve yet to find
Are gone

DAD:  (Speak) Then, when they've “slipped the surly bonds of earth”

ALL:  Out there!

DAD:
(Sing) They can see the graceful curvature
That holds the clouds upon our seas
Where imagination breaks free 
From the gravitational field of broken dreams 
Beyond all we can dream or imagine!
Weightless!

J+M+ENSEMBLE:  Weightless!
DAD:  Out there!
J+M+ENSEMBLE:  Weightless!
  
DAD:  (Speak)  Einstein says, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”
(Sing) One sees the world as it is, but not the world that could be
Limitation fuels imagination
Points the way with incantations
Like the siren songs that carry us along
Beyond reason, beyond care                                                                         
Boundaries are not barriers, they beckon to dare
Like the smile of a pretty girl 
Can open a whole new world
	
DAD: (Speak) Bobby says, “Some men see the world as it is, and ask why.  I dream of things that never were, and ask, ‘why not?’”

MEL:  Bobby Kennedy?

JULES:  JFK’s little brother.

DAD:  Kennedy set our sights on the moon!

JULES:  On space exploration!

DAD:  That’s right.  “We set sail on this new sea, because there is new knowledge to be gained...

JULES:  JFK!  My dad loves this speech!

DAD:  “...and new rights to be won…

MEL:  Did he memorize it?

JULES:  Uh, huh!

DAD:  “...and they must be won and used for the progress of all people…

DAD:
(gradually blending with JFK audio clip) 
“...space can be explored and mastered
without feeding the fires of war
without repeating the mistakes that man has made
in extending his writ
around this globe of ours...

(JFK audio, returning to DAD's recitation)
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things
not because they are easy
but because they are hard
because that goal
will serve to organize and measure the best
of our energies and skills
because that challenge
is one that we are willing to accept
one we are unwilling to postpone
and one we intend to win”

JULES: (Speak) I accept!
MEL:  (Speak) Me, too!

DAD:
(Sing) The way ahead is always marked
With “keep out” signs, “no trespassing”
“Go away”, and “dotted lines”
“Keep off the grass” signs point the way
to whole new worlds
So navigate the seas of possibility
Where men float free!

JULES AND MEL:  (Sing) Weightless!

DAD:  (Speak)  Don’t be scared.  Energy equals will times the velocity of thought … shared.

(Quoting T. S. Eliot) “The worlds revolve like ancient women gathering fuel in vacant lots.”  

[For lyrics to "Beyond This Point", follow this link:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1it1Oy3PdnLL8JCbAbASBWPLa4VRWb3WD/view?usp=drive_link]

Out There | Beyond This Point (Dad, Jules, Mel, Ensemble) - DEMO

Song selections from Beyond This Point, an exploration of loves lost and found.

The TOUR GUIDE expands on the PHOTOGRAPHER’s comment about the symbolism of Salcedo’s Chairs.

PHOTOGRAPHER:  It’s a graveyard.

TOUR GUIDE:  Yes.  A graveyard, but not of a single event.  It symbolically visualizes all of human history beneath this dome of sky.

PHOTOGRAPHER:  Like…a mass grave…a boneyard.

TOUR GUIDE:  Exactly.  A fossil record.  Salcedo piles up chairs like bodies, layers upon layers of forgotten lives, lost and wasted beneath slow violence and injustice in the misguided ambitions of dangerous ideas.

TOUR GUIDE:  (Sing) 
Civilization
Builds upon civilization
Generation after generation
Accumulations of the human imagination
One idea gives birth to another
Forming new worlds
One upon the other

Layer upon layer

The history of thought
Becomes a geology of anthropology
Of our shifting psychologies
And ideologies
In the ongoing succession
Of our imaginary ontologies
Forming the stratification
Of our collective imagination

Layer upon layer

Drilling down, the deeper we bore
The strata of human understanding
Are visible all along the core
They keep the score
Of which ideas carried more sway
In the slow violence of their day

Layer upon layer

Flat worlds give way to round ones
Planets start hurtling around the sun
Double helix, dark matter, muons
Humans have only just begun to unlock
The mysteries of the universe
And begin to mend the disasters
Of the decisions we gotta reverse
Tracing where we’ve been
And reckon with the slow violence
Of the Anthropocene

Failure upon failure

One idea giving way to another
Now our industrialized cult of self
Strives to win the day
And show the way forward
Away from the common good
And good health
Toward more power
And greater wealth

Layer upon layer

In the early hours
When the earth is bathed in morning light
Shadows play in the street like children
In the cool of the day
They merge and lay
Upon each other
While birds gather like hope in gutters
Fluttering together
Singing songs to each other

Our destinies must be re-dreamed
Our goals reimagined
For the survival of our species
And redemption of our souls
Reimagined

Layer upon layer

When we change our minds
We change our world

(Speak) These chairs are like the fossilized remains of humanity’s failures of imagination.  

Wow.  I just completely unloaded on you!  I'm sorry.  I should probably know your name.

PHOTOGRAPHER:  (Chuckle) Uh…Jules.
_____

SPECIAL THANKS to Charissa Hogeland for voicing and singing the part of TOUR GUIDE.

Layer Upon Layer (Tour Guide, Photographer) - DEMO

DESCRIPTION:  Exhilarating, anthemic, orchestral fanfare for TV/film/advertising for sports, ceremonial, or inspirational placements with a reflective and suspenseful introductory orchestral section, bursting into a live brass fanfare with full orchestration, cinematic drop (boom), building to a huge climax.  A hybrid electronic-orchestral (EDM) version is also available (https://soundcloud.com/keith-ward/call-to-excellence-electronic-orchestral?in=keith-ward/sets/sampler)

CLEARANCE:  ONE-STOP clearance with Keith Ward, keith@keithsmusic.info, @KeithWardComposer (Facebook)

EDIT POINTS: Suspense (0:00)  |  Brass Theme (0:34)  |  Cinematic Drop/Boom (1:00)  |  Full Theme (1:05)  |  Pre-Climax Build (1:20)  |  Climax (1:36)

KEYWORDS: exciting, exhilarating, reflective, uplifting, anthem, celebratory, ceremony/ceremonial, stately, processional, noble, award, honor, military, anticipation, victory celebration, big event, arena events, news, bombastic, epic, fanfare, adventure, inspiration, anticipation, preparation for battle, battlefield, contest, sports, competition, olympics, athletic event, throne room, regal, royal, coronation, new beginning, new day, birth of the world, astronomy, stars, planets, solar system, space, exploration, universe, majestic, mountain peaks, breathtaking, new vistas, sunrise, trumpets, brass, orchestra, timpani, triumph, human spirit, cinematic trailer

REFERENCES:
 "Fanfare for the Common Man", Aaron Copland (https://youtu.be/VgjeoJBJr6s)
"Liberty Fanfare", John Williams (https://youtu.be/VsY6vZ8h000)
"Star Trek" (Intro) Alexander Courage (https://youtu.be/9IyJ3uoDMsg)

CREDITS:
Composer:  Keith Ward (https://www.facebook.com/KeithWardComposer/)
Producer:  Fredrik Park (FredrikPark.com)
Trumpets:  Tammy Martz
Trombones:  Paul LeBar
Arranging and MIDI Programming:  Keith Ward and Fredrik Park
Engineer (Trumpets):  Daniel Martz
Engineer (Trombones):  Mitch Krebs

Call to Excellence

Call To Excellence (Orchestral Fanfare, Cinematic Trailer for Ads/TV/Film)

DESCRIPTION:  Upbeat, positive, sassy, female empowerment-themed jazz-pop song with a jazz-flavored female vocal, directed at advertising in fashion and accessories, hair and makeup products, drinks, destinations, on the town, and more.

CLEARANCE:  ONE-STOP clearance with Keith Ward, keith@keithsmusic.info, @KeithWardComposer (Facebook).

CREDITS:
Composer:  Keith Ward
Authors:  Keith Ward, Eric Pittman, Lia Booth
Vocal:  Lia Booth
Clarinet:  Keith Ward
Trombones:  Paul LeBar
Guitar:  Michael Jaramillo
Upright Bass:  Eric Pittman
Drums:  Shelley Gordon
Piano:  Keith Ward
Arranging and MIDI Programming:  Keith Ward
Recording Engineer (Vocals):  Igor Emelianenko
Recording Engineer (Trombones):  Mitch Krebs
Recording Engineer (Drums):  Jerry Adamo
Producer:  Keith Ward

REFERENCES:  "Fever", Peggy Lee (https://youtu.be/JGb5IweiYG8)

KEYWORDS:  sexy, sensual, girl on fire, sassy, jazz, female vocal, female empowerment, feeling good, self-confidence, good on my own, pop, enthusiasm, scat singing, fashion ads, accessory ads, makeup ads, hair ads drink ads, on the town, destination ads, working mothers, finger snaps, upright bass, piano, solo clarinet, combo, trombone section soli, cool, Mancini-like, Diana Krall, Harry Connick, Jr.

Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff (I'm Feeling So Good) Jazz-Pop Mix

Hot Stuff (I’m Feeling So Good) Jazz-Pop Mix (feat. Lia Booth)

DESCRIPTION:  Upbeat, driving, positive female empowerment-themed pop EDM song with a jazz-flavored female vocal, directed at advertising in fashion, drinks, destinations, on the town, and more.

CLEARANCE:  ONE-STOP clearance with Keith Ward, keith@keithsmusic.info, @KeithWardComposer (Facebook).

CREDITS:
Composers:  Keith Ward and Osie Brown
Authors:  Keith Ward, Eric Pittman, Lia Booth
Recording Engineer (Vocals):  Lia Booth
Arranging and MIDI Programming:  Osie Brown
Producer:  Osie Brown

REFERENCES:  "Introducing Google Pixel" 10/4/2016 (https://youtu.be/Rykmwn0SMWU)

KEYWORDS:  upbeat, sassy, driving, girl on fire, jazzy female vocal, female empowerment, feeling good, self-confidence, good on my own, EDM, dance, electronic, dubstep, pop, enthusiasm, scat singing, synthesizers, fashion ads, accessory ads, hair ads, drink ads, on the town, destination ads

Unreleased

Hot Stuff (I'm Feeling So Good) Pop Remix

Hot Stuff (I’m Feeling So Good) Pop Remix

DESCRIPTION:  A medium-tempo piano ballad with heartfelt acoustic orchestration aimed at a theme of authenticity for a "This is Us"-style TV playlist.  It illustrates a father's resilience in facing his failures, while his children watch him. The father reveals his vulnerability as a strength, and that to be a hero is to be fully human, to simply be a man.

CLEARANCE:  ONE-STOP clearance with: 
Keith Ward, keith@keithsmusic.info, @KeithWardComposer (Facebook) or
Mark Piatelli, mjpiatelli@gmail.com or
Kayte Deioma, kayte@kaytedeioma.com 

KEYWORDS: fatherhood, parenting, emotional, soul-searching, sweet, aspirational, gentle, somber, melancholic, uplifting, inspirational, vulnerability, connection, family, relationships, hero, evocative, moody, life lessons, indy, lyrical, humble, falling, imagination, being human,  bravery, strength, wisdom, fantasy, togetherness, father/son, learning to get up again, resilience, reality, opening up, revealing, acoustic classical guitar, double bass, piano, string section, ukulele, earnest, hand percussion, This is Us, TV

REFERENCES:
“Home”   Zayde Wolf; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imf1Z15T4KQ&list=RDimf1Z15T4KQ&index=1

“Watch Me”, Grey Reverend; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHB6rYMtmSw 

“Black Ladder” Patti Scialfa; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T30kxrXCqsQ 

SONG:  
Composers (Music):  Keith Ward, Mark Piatelli, Kayte Deioma
Authors (Lyrics):  Kayte Deioma, Mark Piatelli, Keith Ward

SOUND RECORDING (MASTER):  
Artist:  Occasionally Preferred Partners
Lead Vocal:  Mark Piatelli
Background Vocals, Piano, Classical Guitar, Clarinet, Ukulele:  Keith Ward
Bass and Hand Percussion:  Eric Pittman
Orchestration, Arranging: Keith Ward, Kayte Deioma, and Mark Piatelli
String Ensemble Arranging and MIDI programming:  Keith Ward
String Ensemble Library and VST Application, Production, Editing, and Double Mastering:  Fredrik Park, Perceptive Music Productions
Lead Vocal Engineers:  Kayte Deioma, Mark Piatelli
Engineer:  Keith Ward
Mixer:  Keith Ward
Producer:  Keith Ward

SPECIAL THANKS:
Catch the Moon Music, Sonnet Simmons, Victoria Carter, Cathy Heller, Fredrik Park, Eric Pittman, Ian Pav, Mark Lee Jarasek

Music for Media

In Your Eyes

In Your Eyes (Jack's Song) (TV)

A playful, jazzy, mid-tempo Christmas song in a nostalgic, “Santa Baby”, Eartha Kitt style, featuring Jaymie Gerard.

Keith Ward - Clarinet, Piano, Drums
Al Meyers - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Eric Pittman - Upright Bass

I've Been Good This Year

I've Been Good This Year (feat. Jaymie Gerard)

Step Into the Water (The Original Song Collection)

Christ Will Lead Me

Eager to begin life together, at ages 20 and 19, respectively, Pamela and I married in December, 1976, against the advice of some friends and family, who counseled us to wait until we were older and a little more financially secure.  Sage advice, but we chose to follow what we knew was right for us.  We just celebrated 44 years together, and we have never regretted it.  This fairy figurine represents Pamela's spirit to me:  sweet, hopeful, adventurous, playful, resilient, and joyful, which I tried to capture in this composition.  I wrote "Pamela's Theme" when we lived in a little brick house in the San Bernardino mountains in California, when our kids were little--a magical time.  I premiered it at Rim of the World Community Church during a Christmas Eve worship service in 1990, where I eventually became the worship leader and associate pastor, serving until 1993.  

You can see our first Christmas ornament in the background of the cover art photo which we hang first every year:  a bride and groom pair of mice, just above the wings of the fairy.  They used to be encased in a glass bulb, which broke along the way--symbolic of the realities of life that have become part of our story, which we cherish.

Add "Pamela's Theme (A Christmas Canticle)" to your other favorite streaming platform playlists and stations (Spotify, Apple, iTunes, Pandora) here:  https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/lkeithward/pamelas-theme-a-christmas-canticle

"Pamela's Theme (A Christmas Canticle)" is a selection from Open (The Piano Collection), an album of Keith's piano pieces that have been written and performed throughout his music career, often behind the scenes of his more visible music activities. Not available in digital streaming format until now, they have been rerecorded, mastered, and collected during the worldwide coronavirus pandemic of 2020, representing a lifetime of reflective moments at the piano, both public and private. Available on digital streaming platforms in early 2021.

Open (The Piano Collection)

Pamela's Theme (A Christmas Canticle)

My livelihood depends on the kindness of people like you.  Like artists through the ages, I devote my energies to the gift I have been given, and in turn, depend on the generosity of others who recognize the value of artists to the world and their own role as benefactors.  We all need and support each other for a healthy world.

As a composer, my piano music is featured in an audiobook by award-winning author Nikki Grimes, and my musical scores for theatrical productions by author/director/storyteller Cora Alley are performed worldwide.  I am currently collaborating with my talented brother, Drew Ward—a Lucie Arnaz Award-winning director/writer/poet—on a musical called Beyond This Point.

As a songwriter, my pop song, "Givin' Up Givin' Up", appears in all best-of collections by Grammy- and Dove Award-winning artist Bryan Duncan.  I currently work with songwriters Kayte Deioma and Mark Piatelli in our songwriting collaborative project, Suddenly Flying, of Occasionally Preferred Partners.

I have played clarinet and lead alto sax in orchestras for Grammy-winning artists Natalie Cole, Llew Matthews, and Michael W. Smith; in my own bands, The BlackWood Jazz Combo, Rail City Jazz, and Jazz on a Stick; as a sideman for Chuck Ousley, the Dewdroppers, and others; and as clarinetist with the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Band of Los Angeles.  I love traveling, playing on the street, and other places where people cannot get out on their own to enjoy live music.  I recently recorded the alto sax theme for Thirty Minutes, a film by Claire Elizabeth Terry, scored by Bruno Valenti, which has won numerous (over 30) prestigious film festival awards around the world.

After more than 30 years in LA and Orange County, I relocated to Southeast Idaho, where I live with my wife Pam and adventure dog, Rusty.  From my private studio, Red Sea Studio 22, I continue to compose and record music, rehearse, and Zoom with friends and family, musicians, and others around the globe.

L. Keith Ward - Composer/Songwriter

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