Surprise!!! It’s my pleasure to announce the release of “The Pretty One” and “Coolin’ Out”, two singles composed and featured in the FX TV series “Fargo”. Written and recorded in the span of 48 hours, these songs are featured in episodes 102 and 104 respectively as background music for Lou’s cafe. The cast of the show includes Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Bob Odenkirk, Keith Carradine and Oliver Platt. Click the links below to download!
“The Pretty One”: Download at CDBaby Download at iTunes
“Coolin’ Out”: Download at CDBaby Download at iTunes
Personnel:
Shirantha Beddage – baritone saxophone
Brian O’Kane – flugelhorn
Brian Dickinson – piano
Mike Downes – bass
Ernesto Cervini – drums
Recording, mixing and mastering: Andy Pryde
Recorded on February 6, 2014 at Humber College, Toronto, Canada
From the CDBaby website:
Shirantha Beddage wears many hats, and he wears them well. The JUNO-nominated Toronto saxophonist and educator can now add one more feather to his cap: composer for television. “When I got the call to provide some original music for Fargo,” Beddage writes, “I was thrilled.” The Coen brothers movie is one of my favourite all-time films… It was an honour to be considered for this exciting new show.”
He quickly realized that time was of the essence. “The producers needed the music within about two days, so I had to move quickly. I needed to book the musicians, the studio, write the tunes… It was a bit of a whirlwind. They wanted a Gerry Mulligan ‘West Coast’ vibe, so I quickly hired Brian O’Kane, Brian Dickinson, Mike Downes, and Ernesto Cervini to play the parts.” Within the span of 48 hours, Beddage had written three original compositions. The group recorded these original tunes in the Humber College auditorium with the help of Humber’s resident sound technician Andy Pryde. “’Coolin’ Out’ and ‘The Pretty One’ were eventually selected for the show. My composition ‘The Pretty One’ was written about a half-hour before the recording session, and as it turned out that’s the first one the producers picked! Go figure.”
Having written a host of original compositions for his own group, Beddage is an experienced composer. “Composition is a labour of love for me. At times it can be very challenging, as my ideas don’t flow quickly onto paper. Writing in this situation was quite different, as I didn’t have the time to let my perfectionist tendencies get in the way… probably a good thing!” Beddage has written original compositions exclusively for this group for the past 10 years, and has recorded two albums as leader: “Roots and Branches” (2007) and the Juno-nominated “Identity” (2012). Compositions from this recording garnered him the Galaxie Rising Star Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2013. As a performer, he’s quickly becoming known as a powerful and compelling voice on the baritone saxophone. In addition to leading his own groups, he performs regularly with ensembles led by Toronto heavyweights Mike Downes, Nancy Walker and Bruce Cassidy. He also teaches full-time at Humber College in Toronto, where he is the Director of Theory and Harmony in the Humber Music department.
