Skip Beckwith

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Charles Frederick Pearson "Skip" Beckwith (born October 1, 1939 in Sidney , British Columbia ; † July 31, 2019 ) was a Canadian jazz musician ( double bass , also arrangement, composition).

Live and act

Beckwith moved to Halifax with his family in 1945 . While at Queen Elizabeth High School he played in a band with friends. In Halifax he studied piano at the Maritime Conservatory of Music and played in the musician's own Halifax Jazz Club. He then studied composition at the Berklee School of Music from 1959 to 1961 ; his teachers included Ray Santisi , Arif Mardin and Herb Pomeroy . In 1962 he moved to the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, where he took lessons from Ray Brown (bass), Oscar Peterson (piano) and Phil Nimmons (arrangement and composition). 1962–1965 he worked in the Ottawa music scene in night clubs a. a. with pianists Brian Browne and Charles Coleman. Recordings for RCA Victor were made in 1965 with the Brian Browne Trio (initially with drummer Doug Johnston ) . Beckwith also worked as a session musician in the TV studios of the broadcasters CBC and CTV as an accompanist for the likes of Bobby Curtola , Catherine McKinnon ; 1969–1975, he led the backing band for Anne Murray as bassist and was also involved in recordings of the singer such as the Grammy Award winning album Love Song (1976).

In 1975 he turned back to jazz music, moved to Halifax and was a leading figure in the jazz revival in the late 1970s and early 80s. In Halifax he was also musical director of Pepe's Upstairs Jazz Café , accompanying Ed Bickert , Buddy DeFranco , Milt Jackson , Oliver Jones , Barney Kessel and Sonny Stitt on their guest performances. He has also produced recordings for Dutch Mason , Bruce Murray , Reg Schwager and Joe Sealy . In Halifax he played a. a. in the trio Alive and Well with Don Palmer and Jerry Granelli , with whom he released two albums in 1992 and 2000 and made another guest appearance at the Halifax Jazz Festival in 2006. Beckwith taught in the jazz program at Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish . 1985–1989 he performed with Oliver Jones at the Newport Jazz Festival in Saratoga Springs. In the field of jazz he was involved in 16 recording sessions between 1960 and 2007, including a. also with Henry Cuesta and Paul Donat.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Stephen Cooke: Nova Scotia music community mourns storied bassist Skip Beckwith. The Chronicle Hearld, August 7, 2019, accessed August 8, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed August 8, 2019)
personal data
SURNAME Beckwith, Skip
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beckwith, Charles Frederick Pearson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Sidney , British Columbia
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 2019