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August 2023: Winter Updates

Brian Keane Music Inc. has been quite busy with major updates to its Score to Picture music library catalogue, both at its native host, SourceAudio.com and international host at SynchTank in England, with adding over 150 curated albums for music scoring professional needs. Brian Keane Music Inc. has recently renewed its long standing lease agreement with the Walt Disney company, and continues to be leased by other major entertainment corporations as well.

Recently, Brian completed composing the music score to the film, “Here Lived”, by director, Jane Wells, about a German artist who create “Stolpersteine” which are monuments that are attached to stones, and set in the streets throughout Europe, to commemorate people who were taken by the Nazis. The film explores the heartbreaking, and beautiful stories of survivor families and their search to connect with those they never got a chance to know. This film is made even more significant by the recent rise in fascism in many regions of the world. The film was produced by 3 Generations, and a video of the music score being recorded was shot, and is attached below.

In addition to the above, Brian completed scoring the 7 part “Southern Hoops” series, about the fascinating history of SEC basketball, as told by multiple award winning director, Fritz Mitchell, which aired on the ESPN network January-March of 2023. It was part of a ten hour trilogy of projects with Fritz Mitchell and ESPN, which also included an interesting film on college football star and murder suspect, Bobby Hoppe in the “Trials of Bobby Hoppe”, and a documentary about Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Steve Garvey, Tommy Lasorda and others in the late 1970’s battles between the Yankees and the Dodgers in “Uncivil War”. Brian called upon his good friend Roger Ball to work on that music score with him. Roger was an original member of the Average White Band, one of the more iconic bands of the 1970’s. Both those films aired late in 2022.

In new recordings, besides the new website playlists above, and the over 150 curated albums on Score to Picture.com, Brian produced the George Barrett project, which includes an eclectic mix of classics and George’s original compositions, and top musical guests, including pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Eddie Gomez, drummer Shawn Pelton, and many others, due out later this fall. Brian also recently completed a project originally conceived of in 1993, to get out of a recording contract that Brian had signed with Capitol / Blue Note records. The project called “The Bebop Headbangers from Outer Space”, which was way ahead of its time, musician’s music, and made to be too progressive to keep Brian under contract, featured world class players including trumpeters Randy Brecker, Tony Kadleck, and Freddie Hendrix, Saxophonists Dave Mann, Ken Gioffre, and Lawrence Feldman, drummers Rodney Holmes, Joel Rosenblatt, Joe Bonadio, and Thierry Arpino, bassists Victor Bailey, Dave Anderson, Leo Huppert, and Phil Bowler, trombonist, Stephen Davis, synthesizer work from Steve Roach, Eduard Train, and Nick Bariluk. The album also features Brian’s electric guitar playing in the prime of his playing career.

Upcoming, the studio will be undergoing a construction project for a few months, and then Brian returns to work with director Ric Burns, on his 4 hour American broadcast version of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

February 2023: Winter Updates

Brian Keane Music continues to update its music library, which is leased by various networks. Jeremy Bahr was hired as a technical specialist to work on updates. Meanwhile, Brian has been scoring a 7-hour television series for multiple award-winning director Fritz Mitchell and the ESPN network on the history of SEC basketball called "Southern Hoops", which began broadcasting Monday nights on January 30th, 2023, and will continue airing new episodes weekly (as well as periodic rebroadcasts) until March Madness.

The George Barrett record project, which includes top musicicans such as Cyrus Chestnut, Eddie Gomez, Shawn Pelton, and others, is due to be released in March of 2023. Brian's wild "Bebop Headbangers From Outer Space" record, which includes performances from top jazz artists, should be released later this spring as well.

Brian intends to return to creating orginal music later this year...

September 2022: Fall Updates

In 1992, Brian was signed to a record contract with Blue Note/Capitol Records. It had been his dream to be signed to a major label recording contract for 15 years, while playing with such notable musicians as Larry Coryell, Paco Delucia, Bobby McFerrin, and others. However, Brian's first documentary film score, "Against Wind & Tide" in 1981, was nominated for an Academy Award, and with the advent of cable television shortly thereafter, Brian had become the foremost composer in the burgeoning world of documentaries. Additionally, some of his documentary scores had become successful as soundtrack CDs, which led to a growing body of work as a record producer. By the time Brian's Blue Note CD, "Common Planet", hit #1 on jazz radio in 1992, Brian was doing much more significant business as a composer and producer than as a jazz guitarist.

With the success of Brian's composing and production, as well as being a new father, he no longer had the time to pursue a career as a recording artist. He also didn't want to be constricted artistically or financially by the record company, so he decided that the only way to get out of a successful record contract was to force the label to drop him. He determined that the best way to accomplish that was to create an album so artistically avant-garde that the record label would have no idea how to market it, which is a label's primary reason for existence.

Thus, Brian created a band called The Bebop Headbangers from Outer Space, made up of some of the best players of the time, including the late Victor Bailey on bass, Rodney Holmes on drums, and a young David Mann on saxophones, among others. The music was ultra-progressive, and derived from commercially unrestricted ideas. Combining technology, modern classical, jazz, and progressive rock-fusion elements, It was way ahead of its time. Brian's plan worked: Capitol Records dropped him, and he moved on to his successful composing and producing career.

30 years later, early in 2022, Brian decided to finish the project, including some of the original players (Rodney Holmes, David Mann), with guest artists including Randy Brecker and many others. The Bebop Headbangers from Outer Space will be released in early 2023, and it is still ahead of its time.

Additionally in 2022, Brian Keane Music, Inc oversaw a major overhaul of its Score To Picture music library site. To accommodate growing demand from several major network leases, Jeremy Bahr was brought on to improve technological capacity of the music lease system, and to make searches easier and more intuitive for the end user.

Brian also managed to squeeze in a few more projects, including a record project for singer/songwriter George Barrett which included performances from Cyrus Chestnut, Eddie Gomez, Shawn Pelton, and many others. Brian is also back at work scoring 8 hours of documentaries this fall for award-winning director Fritz Mitchell. August 2021: Summer Updates

Brian was recently inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame along with Muddy Waters, James Cotton, and others. He was awarded the New York Festivals Grand Award for his work on Susan Lacy’s “Very Ralph”, an HBO biopic about famed designer, Ralph Lauren. Brian also scored Fritz Mitchell’s 10-hour series “Saturdays in the South” for ESPN - SEC Stories, which also brought home gold awards from New York Festival’s Film and TV Awards. Brian scored a new logo for the SEC storied channel on ESPN’s network as well.

"Oliver Sacks: His Own Life” received a rare 100% rating both for audiences and critics alike on the Rotten Tomatoes site during its Kino Lorber theatrical release with Zeitgeist Films, with an upcoming network TV release in the spring of 2022 on the PBS American Masters television series. Soundtracks for "Oliver Sacks", and the 2020 critically acclaimed documentary “Driving While Black” came out on Valley Entertainment in late 2020. Brian recently completed a score to Steeplechase Film’s  epic 3-hour project on "Dante’s Inferno" for Italian TV, that will also be broadcast in the spring of 2022 on PBS.

Brian is slated to begin a couple of sports features next with Andy Billman’s “War on the Diamond”, a film about the Cleveland Indians, and award winning director Fritz Mitchell takes on the fascinating and controversial story of college football star Bobby Hoppe for ESPN, who was involved in a secret past homicide. The multiple Emmy winning Joe Lavine and Ross Greenburg formerly of HBO Sports are reviving their classic documentary “Nine Innings From Ground Zero”, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the attacks on 9/11. Brian won an Emmy for that score. Ric Burns' epic “New York” series is slated to add another episode as well for 2022. Leases continue to go well for Brian's music catalog through his searchable library. ASCAP has confirmed over 700 cue sheets, and nearly 10,000 titles for Brian Keane Music, Inc.

On a sad note, Brian’s father George F. Keane, a noted philanthropic investment strategist who founded The Commonfund and served as treasurer for the United Negro College Fund, passed away in May of 2021 at the age of 91. Brian was very close with his father, though their businesses had nothing in common. November 2020: Fall Updates

November 2020 - Despite the pandemic, Brian has been busy with several projects. "Driving While Black", a two-hour special by director Gretchen Sorin, aired nationally to critical acclaim in October. The film will re-air nationally in February of 2021 to comemorate Black History Month, and the original soundtrack, featuring a diverse collection of artists from Blues Hall-of-Famer Joe Louis Walker, to renowned jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut, to noted gospel singers Ada Dyer, Janice Dempsey, and Sharon Bryant, to 18-year old TikTok sensation Kyla Imani was released by Valley Entertainment and is currently streaming online.

Almost at the same time, the Telluride and New York Film Festival sellout, and Hampton and Sarasota Film Festivals' Audience award winner, and critically acclaimed film Oliver Sacks: His Own Life", was theatrically released nationwide by Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist Films. Because of the pandemic, the film is available in Kino Marquis' digital cinema, where a portion of ticket sales will go to the local art theater of your choice. A soundtrack of Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is also available from Valley Entertainment.

Almost 800 new titles were added to Brian's music library, now in its fifth year being leased by Disney and others, and several new projects are in the works for 2021. July 2020: Summer Updates

July 2020 - The Coronavirus pandemic has affected Brian Keane Music (along with everyone else in our industry!). Oliver Sacks: His Own Life", which debuted to sellout crowds at the Telluride and New York Film Festivals, was picked up for national theatrical distribution by Keno Lorber and Zeitgeist Films. The film was supposed to be released in May of 2020, but, due to the pandemic, is likely to be released as a VOD in August or September of this year.

Brian (along with others) produced his first documentary during this pandemic about his long-time friend and musical collaborator Charlie Karp, who passed away in March of last year. The feature-length documentary film "Charlie and Us: The Charlie Karp Story" follows the concert Brian produced with over 70 musicians last summer, and highlights Charlie's long career. It was done as a non-profit charity project.

Brian has begun working on "Driving While Black: Race, Space, and Mobility in America", a two-hour PBS documentary special set to air on October 13. Brian's score to Susan Lacy's HBO documentary about Ralph Lauren, "Very Ralph", was named the Grand Winner for his music score at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards, and won a Gold Award for music as well. The 12-hour Fritz Mitchell-directed ESPN documentary series Saturdays In The South: A History of SEC Football", won two additional Gold Awards.

Brian Keane's European and Middle-Eastern concert tour with Middle-Eastern musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek in November of 2019 enjoyed sell-out crowds at every show. This was in follow-up to their sold-out Carnegie Hall appearance in 2018.

Brian's music library continues to grow in popularity, underscoring many hours of programming in the past year.

Many additional projects are planned, pending the affects of the current pandemic situation going forward.

September 2019: Fall Updates

September 2019 - It's been a busy fall for releases! Oliver Sacks: His Own Life" debuted to sellout crowds at the Telluride and New York Film Festivals. Saturdays In The South: A History of SEC Football", a 12-hour series, is airing Tuesday nights on ESPN. Very Ralph", a new film about Ralph Lauren from multiple Emmy Award-winning director Susan Lacy, will debut in November on HBO. One Day At Disney" debuts on the new Disney+ streaming network, and Alfred Sung's Last Stitch" debuted at the Hong Kong and Toronto Film Festivals.

Brian's music library continues to grow, both in content and clients.

Following up on Brian’s sold-out Carnegie Hall concert with Omar Faruk Tekbilek last year, Brian will be performing with Omar in concert later this year in Israel and the Middle East.

March 2019: Spring Updates

March 2019 - Brian Keane Music, Inc has updated this web site with many new features, updated music playlists, links, project information, and photos. The update was designed by Chicago web designer Elvis Salic, and updates the original design done by former Brian Keane Music, Inc employee and student, Jonas Friedman. Jonas has gone on to become a successful orchestrator for several major weekly television shows in the Los Angeles area and, most recently, a new father. The new web site also connects to Brian’s searchable music library Score To Picture, which has rapidly been growing as a major musical resource for top editors and producers in television and film.

Brian has been working on several projects already this year. He scored an HBO film by multiple award-winning director Susan Lacy about Ralph Lauren, and is working on a 12-hour series for Emmy award-winning director Fritz Mitchell called “Saturdays in the South” for ESPN. Brian also completed a project for Academy Award-winning producer Ruby Yang called “Last Stitch”.

Following up on Brian’s sold-out Carnegie Hall concert with Omar Faruk Tekbilek last year, Brian will be performing with Omar in concert later this year in Israel and the Middle East.

November 2018: Fall Updates

November 2018 - Brian Keane Music keeps rolling along (despite Brian's claims of "semi-retirement")! Brian's "Score To Picture music library was renewed by Disney for 5 more years. Brian is also scoring a 12-hour series on the history of the SEC college football conference for Emmy-winning director Fritz Mitchell, in collaboration with Molehouse Studios and ESPN. Brian is also scoring an HBO documentary about renowned fashion designer Ralph Lauren for Emmy-winning director Susan Lacy, who ran the "American Masters" documentary series for PBS for years, and recently directed the Stephen Speilberg documentary, as well as "Jane Fonda in Five Acts". Brian has also been working on a film about Oliver Sacks for multiple Emmy-winning director Ric Burns.

Earlier this year, Brian performed some live concerts, including selling out Carnegie Hall in April with long-time collaborator Omar Faruk Tekbilek.

March 2018: Spring Updates

March 2018 - Spring will be a busy time this year! Brian is playing several live concerts, including an appearance at Carnegie Hall on April 14th with long-time collaborator Omar Faruk Tekbilek. Brian is also playing concerts of his original music with his former student (and Windham Hill recording artist) Sean Harkness, and performing with The Reunion Band (a band of high school friends playing '60s rock 'n' roll). On television, Brian's music will be featured in Helen Whitney's "Into the Night" documentary, which airs nationally on PBS on March 26th, and Ric Burns' "The Chinese Exclusion Act", which airs nationally on PBS on May 29th. Brian is also scoring a film about Oliver Sacks for Ric Burns and American Masters, which is due out later this year. Other films Brian has recently scored include a documentary film by Ruby Yang about Tibetan nomads undergoing lifestyle changes in the modern era; a fun film about women bowling by George Roy; and a massive series about the history of the SEC for ESPN and Fritz Mitchell. Brian's "Score To Picture" music library continues to be leased by major networks, and used in several documentaries, including Neil Leifer's upcoming PBS film about Neary's, an iconic Irish pub in New York City.

November 2017: Fall Updates

November 2017 - Brian spent some of the past year working on a symphony originally written in 1984. The symphony "A Speck of Time", is a musical expression of the fact that we all share the same home in a deserted neighborhood, planet earth, and as such is an anti-tribalistic inclusion of multiple cultural and stylistic elements that come together in a spiritually uplifting 30 minute work. Extremely ambitious, the first phase of this project has been completed and will go into live recording in the coming year. Other recent projects included 3 Sun Dance documentaries, one for Oscar winner Ruby Yang about the effects of China's single child policy on abandoned daughters, another about soldiers who live with PTSD, and another Ric Burns film about the neurologist and author Oliver Sacks. Brian also produced a DVD of the 1922 silent movie of "Robin Hood" scored entirely by top early music musicians, Hesperus, using entirely music written in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, and using the original instruments of the period. That DVD comes out in a few weeks. Past Brian Keane Music employees have been busy too: Keith Chirgwin has been promoted to a head mixer for NBC, Jeff Frez-Albrecht continues to do narration gigs for several documentaries as well as doing the audio post on a feature film, Jonas Friedman continues scoring "Blue Bloods", "X-Files", and "24" for television, and has recently been engaged to work on a Hans Zimmer related feature film.

October 2016: Fall Updates

Brian leased part of his catalog of thousands of titles to ESPN, and spent part of the year working on artistic projects. Three new films were scored for Fritz Mitchell (for whom Brian received his 20th Emmy nomination for music last year), and IMG. “Norm” was scored and mixed for ESPN. There is an upcoming project in the works about the Chinese Exclusion Act for director Ric Burns and PBS. Long time employee Keith Chirgwin became a chief audio mixer for NBC Universal, Jonas Friedman moved to Los Angeles where he is scoring for the television series “Blue bloods", "X-Files", and “24”, and Jeff Frez-Albrecht picked up several more films as a narrator. Brian congratulates all Brian Keane Music associates on their individual successes.

March 2015: Spring Updates

The latest films scored by Brian: "Enquiring Minds" (a story about the National Enquirer newspaper), which premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival in October is also featured in the IFC DocNYC festival in November, and can be seen on Netflix later in the year. "Debt of Honor", a moving film by Ric Burns and Bonnie La Fave about disabled veterans premiered November 7th on The Intrepid in NYC, and will play at the new National Memorial For Disabled Veterans in Washington D.C.

November 2014: Fall Updates

The latest films scored by Brian: "Enquiring Minds" (a story about the National Enquirer newspaper), which premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival in October is also featured in the IFC DocNYC festival in November, and can be seen on Netflix later in the year. "Debt of Honor", a moving film by Ric Burns and Bonnie La Fave about disabled veterans premiered November 7th on The Intrepid in NYC, and will play at the new National Memorial For Disabled Veterans in Washington D.C.

September 2014: It's Time

It's Time, a feature documentary by Fritz Mitchell for ESPN, and the premiere of it's new SEC network premieres September 4th. Brian Keane Music did the music and audio post with narration by Jeff Frez Albrecht.

February 2014: ASCAP 100th Anniversary

Brian recently attended ASCAP's 100th Anniversary celebration in NYC. An artcle about the evening that also has a brief interview with Brian can be see on The Wall Street Journal HERE.

July 2013: Copper Emmy Nomination

"Copper" has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy award for Brian Keane's main title theme music. Brian Keane also scored "Death and the Civil War" which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in the category of Outstanding Non-Fiction Programming.

February 2013: Copper Season 2 Coming Summer Of 2013
Season 2 of Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana's "Copper" begins June 23 on BBC America. "Copper" debuted last year as the highest rated show in BBC America's history.
A new "Copper" soundtrack CD featuring Brian's score is to be released on Valley Entertainment (Sony) records later this year.

August 2012
Copper: a new television series from Academy Award winning director, Barry Levinson, and Emmy award winning producer Tom Fontana, premiered August 19 on BBC America as the highest rated show in the network's history. Brian scored the series and the title music, about an Irish cop in 1864 New York, employing top Irish musicians Joanie Madden, Eileen Ivers, Jerry O'Sullivan and John Whelan among many others.

Ric Burns returns to his legendary Civil War documentary subject matter with "Death and the Civil War" airing in September on PBS as an American Experience two hour special. A soundtrack CD of Brian's heartbreaking score will be released on Valley-Entertainment.

Neil Leifer's "ConVention", a fun documentary about a ventriloquist convention in Kentucky, premieres theatrically in September. Brian's whimsical score features tuba, accordion and gypsy music.


February 2012:
Music Brian produced for Windham Hill is used in the soundtrack of the Academy Award nominated film "The Decendants" starring George Clooney. Brian's music is also to be used in the soundtrack for the upcoming Baz Luhrmann remake of "The Great Gatsby" starring Leonardo DiCaprio due out in December 2012. Brian has teamed up with the Woodstock New York computer firm, Curious Minds, to develop a library search system for film music. This system, as well as updates to this site, should be online by the fall of 2012.

January 2011:
Colorado Symphony to perform orchestral work composed by Brian in a concert celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday."The Warrior of Qiugang", a film by Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon, scored by Brian, was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary short subject.

June 2010:
"Into The Deep" a two hour special American Experience film by Ric Burns about the American Whaling Industry which premiered May 10, 2010 with an accompanying soundtrack CD available on Valley entertainment, was nominated for a Prime Time Emmy Award. Ironically, Brian also contributed music to the Warner Brothers Movie "Free Willy Escape From Pirate's Cove" which came out in April 2010. Additionallly, "Broad Street Bullies" a film by George Roy, premiered May 4 on HBO, and several feature films are in productions for the fall.

May 2009:
"Kelebek (The Butterfly)": Original motion picture soundtrack composed by Brian Keane and Omar Faruk Tekbilek. Kelebek (The Butterfly), based on a script by Turkish writer/producer Mahmut Bengi and directed by Cihan Taskin, is about the actions that were and were not taken, leading to the events that the world would come to know as 9/11: Premieres May 1st in theatres in Turkey, U.S. film festival releases TBA. Soundtrack CD available on Celestial Harmonies. CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR "KELEBEK" . In other news, "Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed", the HBO Documentary scored by Brian was nominated for an Emmy Award.

March 2008:
Brian is nominated for two more Emmy Awards for his music scores to HBO's "Barbaro", and Disney/ESPN's "Kabul Girl's Club".

September 2007:
"Andy Warhol A Documentary Film" by Ric Burns scored by Brian wins a Primetime Emmy Award. The film won a Peabody Award in May and scored "100% fresh" on the rotten tomatoes website. In addition, "Eugene O'Neill", also by Ric Burns and scored by Brian, starring Christopher Plummer, Al Pacino, Liam Neeson, among others, won a News and Documentary Emmy.

February 2007
"Blood of the Ying Zhou District", a documentary directed by Ruby Yang for Thomas Lennon Films and the China Aids Project, and scored by Brian, won the Academy Award for "Best Documentary; Short Subject".

May 2006:
" Rhythm Of The Rope" which Brian scored wins the Emmy for "Outstanding Sports Documentary". Brian scored all five nominees. Also, he was nominated for three music Emmys. Feature article in Film Score Monthly June 2006 issue. (www.filmscoremonthly.com)

May 2005:
Brian wins his tenth Emmy for his score for the HBO film "Nine Innings from Ground Zero". This year's best documentary Emmy nominations included "Nine Innings", HBO's "Hitler's Pawn", ESPN's "Sports Illustrated", and in the News and Documentary Emmys, ABC's "NYPD 24/7".

June 2004:
Brian Keane cleans up at this year's Emmy Awards, winning "Outstanding Music Composition" for HBO's "Curse Of The Bambino". "Bambino" also took "Best Sports Documentary". HBO's "Legendary Nights" scored by Brian Keane, wins "Best Documentary Series", Ric Burns' "Center Of The World" won a News and Documentary Emmy for "Best Historical Documentary". 2004 brought six Emmy Awards and nineteen Emmy nominations in all for films Brian scored including Music Nominations for Ric Burns' "Center Of The World", Fritz Mitchell's "Teammates" and Joe Lavine's "Jim McKay: My World In My Words" which also won an Emmy for Editing.

2003
In 2003 Keane had 8 Emmy nominations winning "Best Music " for HBO's "Picture Perfect" and "Best Artistic Documentary" for Ric Burns' "Ansel Adams" (which also won a Columbia Dupont Award ). In addition, he scored Fritz Mitchell's "The Complete Angler" which won a Peabody Award .

2002
In 2002 Brian was the first person to ever sweep the Emmy Music category and receive all the nominations in a single year.


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