“Thanks much, your original tunes are some of the best I've heard.“
Steve H. Owner of Arrivederce WIne & Jazz, Portland OR
Bridgetown The Musical, in 2010 Furtile Ground Festival. “Not a bad song in the whole show.” Corey Brunish. Actor and Broadway producer has received 15 consecutive nominations in 11 seasons and five Tony Awards.
Hey Fred, it’s really great! I love the groove I love the idea of the song… I thought it was about my beard. LOL. Good work brother and I mean it. Peace and love,
Mark Hudson, Producer for Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Harry Nilsson, Celine Deon
“One of my best composers,” Suzan Bader, DSM Producers, NYC.
I liked the musicianship and the concepts. It feels sincere, with touches of spirituality and humor, and you have a positive message to deliver. I believe that you have talent and, at least on the music streaming services, your music deserves to have far greater success than it has received. Bob Karcy, Arkadia Records - jazz label in NY.
An uptempo, Gospel/Rock tune about the current dating sensation called speed dating, and the oddities and circumstances that go along with this current trend.
Jazzy Retro R&B song about running into an ex-lover on the street. Sung by the beautiful voice of Suzanne Elstad, a member of KiNGBETA.
A song suggesting that instead of fighting wars, we should choose to dance instead.
TIME FOR A CHANGE is a remix of a medium tempo BlueEyedSoul/Jazz tune that talks about hope, youth, and a plead for our world to come together as one. The universe is calling on us earthlings to do the right thing, to save our planet from an early demise.
ONE OR THE OTHER. This song gets the most streams of any of our songs. I have always been very happy with this music, however, I always felt the mix was a little muddy. So last month I gave it a once-over and cleaned out all the mud, along with a few other fixes, and after a quick mastering, this is what we got. Much better?
The soundtrack for this video is a studio recording of “The Bird Sing” with still photos depicting its ear catching lyrics. My hope was to express this song on multiple levels.
In the style of a classic jazz ballad, with a beautiful string and vocal arrangement. Around For The Fall is a song about a lover who refuses tp take the fall of their lover in the Fall season.
Two lovers travel the globe promoting peace. Uptempo with lots of percussion, vocals & rock guitars.
Up tempo, and in the tradition of jazz and blues, Fred talks about the heartache of being without his potatos on special events, the Irish potato famine, and the euphoria that a well prepared potato can bring. Swingin jazz & blues vocal arrangement at 180bpms
Pink & Powder Blue is an uptempo, vocal, jazz/waltz composition about a relationship that’s on the rocks and in the midst of a possible breakup. Instead of being deeply heartbroken and tragically blue, our vocalist is only Pink & Powder Blue. With big-band horns and jazzy vocals, this track is driven by an awesome drum & bass groove reminiscent of the bebop era. While shopping for bathroom tile my wife said she liked the, “Pink & Powder Blue.“
Starting off very soft with electric piano and vocal, Stillness is about being in a mindful meditative state. The song gradually builds to a bridge that finds the vocalist in a refreshed state and dreaming of a loved one. A fender rhodes solo follows with a build into the last verse again being in a meditative state. An exercise in jazz harmony with angular melodic movement.
This is one of the bands more popular tunes when playing live. I wrote this for my wife, Holly, who I say this to on occasion. Flugelhorn solo, Matt Carr
Let's call it Western Jazz. Inspired by Joni Mitchell's jazz/folk period with a western style lyric. About a couple who leave the comfort of their home to travel across the desert in New Mexico on horseback. Suffering the hardships of their journey, they finally make it home to discover how much their love for each other has grown.
Jazz/Rock tune about life with COVID 19. This was written and produce while in quarantine. The Summer of 2020.
A medium tempo BlueEyedSoul/Jazz tune that talks about hope, youth, and a plead for our world to come together as one. The universe is calling on us earthlings to do the right thing, to save our planet from an early demise.
A dramatic intro with beautiful vocals over a bed of latin percussion and a jazzy bass/synth line. The lyrics are a commentary on our inability as humans to make positive change in the world, often stifled by religious dogma and bigotry.
A bluesy funky jazz rock tune about my favorite Catholic high school teacher, Sister John, who passed away in Dec of 2017. Besides being a great teacher, she was a social activist, volunteer fireman, and a published poet. She will be missed by many.
In the style of Americana, this video/song portrays the life and perils of being a coal miner.
A four-on-da-floor, blue-eyed-soul, jazz crossover track from KING BETA. Lyrics about the importance of words and their meaning. Parts of this video were filmed at a location close to my house where people would gather a few hours everyday to display their protest signs and banners. It all blew down 2 weeks later.
Medium dance tempo, 808 drums & percussion. Featuring the ever-lovely, Suzanne Elstad on lead vocals. The time is more precious as we get older. It'll get away From you. So don't let him go.
Say Scandal is a medium tempo rock tune about scandals across America and the media coverage they attract.
This jazz fusion tune is about the work that’s always ahead of us in a relationship. Thus, the metaphor, Road Work Ahead. Complete with a groovin bass and drum track with a distorted Fender Rhodes solo and plenty of vocal harmonies.
In the tradition of the old 12/8 jazz ballad, this recording, packed with big harmonies is about a person who only sees blue through his window as his world is falling apart. But, after a very soothing vibe solo and a commentary on how all of humanity experiences a blue window at some point in their life, our vocalist’s window suddenly let’s the sun through to shine a positive light
on his life.
This song is about a love triangle, originally part of musical set in Portland Oregon on NW 23rd Street. The lead male character works for an older lady named Marie, that he has an eye for but also has a liking for a much young lady named, Candace, who owns a shop just down the street. The music is in an r&b/jazz style, with lush vocal harmonies and a horn arrangement that includes a stellar trumpet solo at the end. The photos for the video were taken of the band, KING BETA doing a show at, Catfish Lou's in Portland OR.
KiNG BETA's Uptempo Rock/R&B tune about hating your job and the struggles of money.
Absolutely fantastic song, performance and video. Enjoyed jazzy vibes very much. Brilliant playing and singing, very inspiring to watch and listen to!!! Warm greetings, Nadia
This song was originally written for the musical, Bridgetown, about Portland Or and was performed at the 2010 Fertile Ground Playwrights Festival. Sexy City (Subtitled, “it’s all business when we’re going down.”) is about Portland’s strip tease industry. According to one statistic, Portland has more stripers per capita than
any other city in the US.
Hey Fred, it’s really great! I love the groove I love the idea of the song… I thought it was about my beard. LOL. Good work brother and I mean it. Peace and love, Mark Hudson, Producer for Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Harry Nilsson, Celine Deon
He Gonna Lie & She Gonna Cry is a blue-eyed-soul, vocal duet about marital betrayal. This being one of the bands more popular tunes, it has both a catchy bass line and melody with a slightly retro Motown vide.
A reggae tune about Manhattan and Hermosa Beach in southern CA. This was my last LA group, The Stickmen’s most popular song. This version (there are many) is sung by Christy Bradley an artist I produce here in Portland OR.
In the classic style of the 12/8 rock ballad, this lyric is about all the women I admire dressed in red.
The making of the Portland Trailblazer theme. They asked me to do a redo on their theme music, but keeping with the original melodic motif.
The Full version of the, ‘Trailblazer’s Theme.”
KING BETA at the old Duff’s Garage on E 82nd in Portland OR featuring the ever lovely, Ms. Suzanne Elstad on vocals, myself on keys, Mike Doolin on guitar, Ward Griffiths on drums and Jon Hughes on bass.