Music
Press
“Keyboard artist Douglas King wowed an audience of over a thousand people with a stunning concert of jazz married to classical themes to win the annual performance competition at the University of Wisconsin.”
- Milwaukee Journal
Douglas King, the reclusive Mount Horeb recording artist from Mind Worm Records who only plays for private occasions, was coaxed into playing his music again for the public at the 25th Annual Clay Art Exhibition. Two hundred people attended the exhibition and heard tracks played from his private collection. The music was received with so much enthusiasm that one hundred of them personally requested copies of his CD on the spot.
- Mount Horeb Mail
Keyboard performer Douglas King treated an audience of well over a thousand people to another stunning performance of jazz improvised around classical themes to win the annual performance competition at the University of Wisconsin for the second year in a row.
Those lucky enough to catch him playing can hear him improvising at impromptu appearances at the Elbow Room in downtown Milwaukee just off Water Street.
- The Milwaukee Journal
“Douglas King has won the University of Wisconsin performance competition for the second year in a row. It was a full theater waiting to hear him again and he did not disappoint! The audience treated him to long and enthusiastic applause. There seems to be no end to his creativity on the keyboard. No other performer has ever won two successive competitions until now. Just who is this guy?”
- The UWM Post
“This guy is just amazing. I had no idea we were going to hear this on our television show today. I predict you are going to be listening to him again very soon.” -- Gretchin Colnick
- WTMJ Television
“What a talented man! I told my mom about his CD and she would like one too. Please let us know when it is available!”
-- Jean Schneider
“We just heard the clip of one of his songs and it is just beautiful. We have been playing it over and over all day long. We cannot wait until he finally releases a CD. Please send us one!”
-- Dexter and Cynthia Jones
“We love this music. We want your CD. Please let us know when we can buy one!”
-- Dr. and Mrs. Robert Glinert
- Testimonials
Discography
Deceptively Simple Melodies – The Keyboard Mindworms of Douglas King. A 54 Track Sampler CD running 77:32 minutes. Other CDs unpublished available on request.
Photos
Bio
Dr. Douglas King is a former CEO who worked for three governors and three University presidents in the public sector. But early in his life, he was a keyboard performer.
After attending the prestigious Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, he won awards at juried piano performance competitions attended by thousands of people. He briefly played on television, in clubs and for special events. But he stopped to pursue another career: His passion for the noble social purposes of public service.
He was candidly recorded in hundreds of private sessions at the keyboard. Those lucky enough to listen said they never heard anything like it before or since. They urged him to share his music. But he remained a reclusive enigma, making only impromptu appearances and he donated his grand piano to a Buddhist healing center.
Then one day, his music was played at an art exhibition attended by two hundred people. Their response was overwhelming. One hundred of them personally requested copies of his recordings. Their enthusiasm coaxed him into finally releasing some CDs. Now a niche audience of adventurous listeners is following his music.
These tracks are moments recorded live at the keyboard. They are spontaneous one-take improvisations that unexpectedly come to Doug from the mist. They were captured as they happened -- unpracticed at different times and in different places.
The tracks are warm and raw. They do not rely on recording tricks. You are listening to them as they occurred: unpolished and complete with nuance, quirky unaccountable effects, miking artifacts and background.
The music is a mesmerizing, narcotically addicting collage of eccentric, deceptively simple keyboard and synthesizer melodies. They invade your mind like musical worms. Some are so intricate it is hard to believe that you are listening to a solo keyboard played by one man recorded in one take.
Listening to the reclusive, enigmatic and eccentric Douglas King is like Liz Story meets Jean Michel Jarre meets George Winston meets Phillip Glass meets David Lanz meets Bill Evans meets Keith Jarret meets Michael Hedges meets the Ravi Shankar Ragas meets the Chopin Preludes.
The sample cuts are an eclectic blend of ambient, classical, jazz, romantic, blues, east Indian raga, Celtic, native American, Indonesian, new age and world music. An unconventional salad of unexpected sounds and styles that defy categories.
Some are relaxed; some are intense. Some are long; some are short. Some are warm; some are atonal. Some are rhythmic; some are halting. Some are familiar; some are odd. All just flow.
No two are alike. But they all have one thing in common. They are deceptively simple mind worms: easy to remember and hard to forget. Enjoy!
Links
