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Ken spent two years in Sweden and has played at Carnegie Hall, Davis Symphony Hall, and several Jazz Festivals.
Now he has been Church Musician in Norwegian Seaman’s Church for about 10 years. That’s where our pastor Joakim “discovered” him a year ago.
I heard him play on a Tuesday Mass a few months ago. His music brought abundant beauty of sound, harmonies, and rhythms in a perfect bouquet for my birthday as it happened to be.
Now many of us want to hear more music by this humble genius who lives just a few blocks from the church.
I got curious and asked him some questions:
When and where did you live in Sweden? How did it happen?
In 1971, when I was 17 years old, I was an AFS (American Field Service) exchange student for one year in Luleå, where I lived with a Swedish family and attended the local gymnasium. It was a good and formative experience: I was compatible with and fond of my host family; I enjoyed the north of Sweden; and I thought it was very fun to learn Swedish. I had no clue what country I would be sent to. So, my landing in Sweden was a happy coincidence.
In 1977, thanks to the American Scandinavian Foundation, I was able to return to spend a year at the University of Stockholm, where I focused on political science and Swedish policies involving immigrants and foreign workers.
Did you visit any churches in Sweden?
I have two especially vivid memories of attending church in Sweden. As it turned out, they were both enhanced by architecture---beautiful old European buildings that were of interest to a young American who wanted Europe to look old and magical:
- a midnight Christmas Eve service at the 15th century church in the Gammelstad Church Village just outside of Luleå
- a service at the Stockholm Cathedral (Storkykan)
Where were you born and where did you grow up? Any relationship to the famous naturalist John Muir?
I was born and grew up in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. My paternal grandfather, like John Muir, was born in Scotland. But Muir is a fairly common name in Scotland, and I have no reason to believe we’re related.
How old were you when you discovered music? Any influence from family members?
I had two older siblings who took piano lessons. So, I found myself gravitating to the piano when I was about 5 years old. Right off the bat, I had fun trying to play things by ear, and discovered pretty fast that I felt unusually happy, engaged, and at home at the keyboard. I asked my parents for lessons and began taking them at age 6. Then, when I was 15 or so, my parents found two excellent teachers for me, one a classical pianist, the other a jazz pianist. I enjoyed both, but realized that, overall, I preferred and was better at playing improvised music than at reading complicated scores.
What did you study in Germany and when?
In 1976, after graduating from college, I studied political science for a year at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. I did my course work, but also spent a lot of time going to concerts, reading whatever I felt like, riding my bicycle, and hanging out in the Englischer Garten.
When did you decide to become a musician? Any formal studies?
During my college years, I played summer piano gigs in New Hampshire, Germany, and Norway (Åndalsnes). But I didn’t yet know that piano playing would become my profession. In 1978, when I returned to the USA, I spent a couple of years working in San Francisco and trying in vain to find a “professional” career path that felt right.
I do remember the exact moment when I finally made the leap and decided to try to make music my profession. In 1982 I went hear the singer Bobby McFerrin at the Great American Music Hall. His vocal improvising was so wonderful—and equally important to me, he was having so much fun doing it! —that I came to the decision, while sitting in the audience, that I would pursue a career in music, or at least give it a try. This was of course an important moment for me, a sudden and effortless revelation after several years of conscious, fruitless effort to come to a decision.
I was fortunate, as a teenager and as an adult, to have had some very helpful private lessons. I think though that I’ve learned most of what I know by listening to music that I love and by exploring and practicing on my own.
Where have you played?
I’ve played primarily in San Francisco, but have also performed extensively in New York, Boston, and Europe. Playing at a hotel in Åndalsnes, Norway one sunny summer when I was 21 was especially fun, not so much because of the actual gig, but because I had days free to spend time in that beautiful scenery. I of course had no idea then that I would one day play at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in San Francisco.
Now I do mostly solo piano and duo (with bass) work, but I used to play frequently with combos of various sizes.
For many years, I had a quintet at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, and also played with various singers in small clubs and cabaret rooms.
Most of my gigs have been fun, pleasant, low key, and unglamorous. But as an accompanist I did have occasion to play in venues that were more exciting, or at least higher profile, such as Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, the Algonquin, and at occasional jazz festivals.
How did the Norwegian Seaman’s Church find you?
About 12 years ago, my wife Margaret and I went for a walk on Russian Hill with a friend who was visiting from Sweden. When we happened to walk past the Norwegian Seamen’s Church, we decided to poke our heads in and look. Speaking to the very friendly hosts, we learned that the church was on the lookout for a pianist to fill in over the summer holidays when the staff organist would be vacationing in Norway. So, I played at the church that summer, enjoyed it, and then, after a couple of years, when that staff organist moved on to another Seamen’s Church (in Spain, I believe), I became the all-year church musician. I’m a pianist, not an organist, but it’s worked out well. I’ve really enjoyed being part of the church community and meeting so many Scandinavians. It’s been helpful that I understand Swedish, as that enables me to half-understand the Norwegian sermons.
How do you enjoy playing Swedish and Norwegian hymns and liturgy?
I really enjoy it. I’d say that many of the hymns that I like best are the ones that are based on folk music and therefore have a clear and distinctive Scandinavian flavor. As an improvising musician, I enjoy taking harmonic liberties with the hymns, especially after the first chorus.
Thank you for interviewing me! It’s been fun for me to look back at musical career and my connections to Scandinavia. It helps me appreciate my good fortune.