Rising Stars: Meet Norman Beede of South Orange County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Norman Beede.

Norman, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Richmond, Indiana. We moved to California when I was three. We lived in Indio from 1953 to 1955 (Quaint little town back then) then moved to La Habra in North Orange County. I’ve spent most of my life in Orange County, but lived in San Francisco (San Francisco Conservatory of Music 1968-70), the Venice canals and the Mt Washington-Pasadena area until 1983 when I returned to Orange County. I lived in Whittier, for 6 years with an artist until her death in 1995, before moving to Laguna Beach. I started playing piano when I was seven and it became a passion when I was 13. I had no social life in high school because I practiced piano all day. I was a teenage classical music groupie going to Hollywood Bowl in the summer and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Music Center from Fall to Spring to see ALL of the great classical pianists of the day. In 1971 I drove a truck for a jazz band ( Don Ellis ) and fell in love with Jazz. After that I went to CAL-ARTS for a year and began playing music for dance classes which I have been doing ever since. I’ve been lucky to have a career as a musician. I’ve worked in universities, CSULA and UCI ( Senior Musician for Dance Department ) in particular and private venues ( including The Montage in Laguna Beach ) my whole adult life. I recorded two ambient albums early on in that genre (1981,1983), one of which has been nominated as one of the best 20 ambient albums ever. I’m known and respected in the improvisation community in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I am exploring acting and writing at this moment in my life.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve been very lucky but I have had some pretty big speed bumps on the way. One was alcoholism and drug addiction, an occupational hazard for Musicians, but I was relieved of it 44 years ago. I struggled with Lyme Disease for 25 years but found a homeopathic cure that works for me. I have survived cancer without chemo or radiation. I lost the love of my life to cancer in 1995. Having said all of this I’ve been very lucky. I am 75 going on 76 and sense that I am just getting started.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I think what sets me apart from most musicians is that I can improvise a keyboard composition after which most people will ask, “who wrote that?” ( Please see BEEDE 2022 on Bandcamp ) I always say that “I wrote it and I’ll never be able to play it again”. It’s as if I am pulling it out of thin air.

People also love my compositions, which I work at separately from my improvisations, although a lot of my compositions are improvisations written out.

I’m also known as one of the best accompanists and composers in the Ballet and Modern Dance world and have worked for all of the major dance companies in the United States.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
My industry is creativity, 90% Music, 5% writing and now 5% acting. I don’t have a clear vision yet of where Music is going other than I’m sure AI will have a part in it. While I see this as being a mixed bag I also see it as exciting in certain ways and that the backlash to it will have positive ramifications in terms of people going back to acoustic music making and to creative self-reliance. I do see the AI being used already in terms of reprocessing and enhancing old recordings that maybe weren’t processed or finished well or were of poor recording quality. This is exciting. I have participated in this process with a group that I used to play with decades ago. We’ve discovered old recordings on cassette tapes and have been able to enhance them to sound closer to contemporary standards and are putting them on YouTube. I also think that in the near future that sound will be used to enhance the growing of food. I have not participated directly yet but am in contact with people who are working on this with success and I find this very exciting for the future of music AND the planet.

Pricing:

• $100 – $350 hr (travel) – lessons Keyboard Improvisation and classical technique
• $5,000 – $30,000 – Music composition / jingles to piano concertos

Contact Info:

• Website: https://normanbeede.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/norman.beede.1
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/norman-beede-84a45912/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nwbeede
• Other: https://normanbeede.bandcamp.com

Image Credits
Gui Bittencourt for Wilma Wu and Stripper Named Lorraine Artwork