John Beasley (musician)
John Beasley (born September 28, 1960 in Shreveport ) is an American jazz pianist and composer who has worked for musicians as diverse as Sérgio Mendes , Freddie Hubbard , Miles Davis , Steely Dan , Chaka Khan , James Brown , Spice Girls , Ry Cooder , John Patitucci , Queen Latifah , Lee Ritenour and Ivan Lins .
Live and act
Beasley, who comes from a family of musicians and turned to jazz in high school, first learned various woodwind instruments. At the age of 14 he wrote a piece for the University of North Texas Jazz Band, which was then taken over by Stan Kenton in the repertoire. Beasley decided against studying instrumental and toured with Sérgio Mendes instead and worked as a studio musician in Los Angeles .
At the age of 24 he wrote and arranged music for television shows from Paramount , Disney and MGM . He also worked as a pianist in the studios. He was also part of Freddy Hubbard's band for six years. In 1989 Miles Davis brought him into his band; later he toured with Steely Dan , Carly Simon , Barbra Streisand , Baaba Maal , Queen Latifah, Christian McBride , Chaka Khan, James Brown and John Pattituci.
Since the early 1990s he released albums with his own bands. His album Positootly! (2009) was nominated for a Grammy for best instrumental jazz album. With his big band MONK'estra he tries to connect to the idiom of Thelonious Monk ; their albums Monk'estra, Volume 1 and Monk'estra Volume 2 were nominated for a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album . He can also be heard on albums by Al Jarreau , Chick Corea , Wayne Krantz , Jon Hassell , Tania Maria , Robby Ameen , Kyle Eastwood and Andreas Öberg .
Discographic notes
- Cauldron ( Windham Hill Records 1991)
- A Change of Heart (Windham Hill Records 1993)
- Letter to Herbie ( Resonance Records 2008)
- Positootly! (Resonance Records 2009, with Brian Lynch , Bennie Maupin , James Genus , Jeff Tain Watts )
- 3 Brave Souls (BFM 2012, with Darryl Jones and Ndugu Chancler )
- MONK'estra Plays John Beasley (Mack Avenue, 2020)
Web links
- John Beasley's website
- interview
- John Beasley at Allmusic (English)
- John Beasley in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ US Public Records Index , Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
- ↑ Larry Taylor, "John Beasley: Positootly! (2009)," All About Jazz.
- ↑ Grammy-nominated John Beasley goes off the hook on Vol. 2 of 'MONK'estra'
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Beasley, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz pianist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 28, 1960 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Shreveport |