Jim Beard | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | James Arthur Beard |
Born | Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, U.S. | August 26, 1960
Died | March 2, 2024 63) New York City, New York, U.S. | (aged
Genres | Jazz fusion |
Occupations | Musician, composer, arranger |
Instrument(s) | Keyboards |
Years active | 1985–2024 |
Formerly of | Steely Dan, Mahavishnu Orchestra |
Website | jimbeard |
James Arthur Beard (August 26, 1960 – March 2, 2024) was an American jazz pianist and keyboardist, composer, arranger and producer who worked with Steely Dan, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Dennis Chambers, and Bob Berg, among others. First performing professionally in college alongside a bar band, Beard then became the pianist of McLaughlin's band, Mahavishnu, after moving to New York in 1985. He also produced seven albums from 1990 through 2019, and wrote several compositions for jazz artists.
Beard was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania on August 26, 1960. [1] He developed a keen interest in music from an early age. [2] He first learned to play the piano at the age of 6, before playing and later studying about other instruments, including the bass, clarinet, and saxophone. [3] [4] As a teenager, he studied arranging with Don Sebesky, and piano with Roland Hanna, and George Shearing for several years. [5] [6] [7]
Beard took his first overseas tour at the age of sixteen with the American Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Hal Schiff. [8] He attended Indiana University, studying jazz under David Baker and classical piano under John Ogdon. [8] In college, he performed professionally with Slide Hampton and Red Rodney and was in a bar band whose members included Jon Herington, Shawn Pelton, Kenny Aronoff, Robert Hurst, and Chris Botti. [8] His musical influences in college were Herbie Hancock, Wynton Kelly, and Prince. [8]
Beard moved to New York in 1985 and became the pianist of John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu, [9] started working relationships with Bill Evans and Mike Stern and had recorded with Dave Liebman. [10] [11] He also began producing many successful recordings for artists such as Mike Stern, Bob Berg, Evans and Eliane Elias. [10] In 1986, he began a working relationship with Wayne Shorter that lasted until 2000. [12] In 1988, he became a member of John Scofield's band and toured the world with Pat Metheny from 1992–1993.
During his early New York period, he wrote compositions for Michael Brecker and John McLaughlin. [13] Many of Beard's compositions have been recorded by top jazz artists, such as "The Wait," by John McLaughlin; "Riddle Me This," by Bob Berg; "In the Hat," by Victor Bailey; "The Gentleman and Hizcaine," by Michael Brecker; and "I'll Miss You," by Bill Evans. [14]
Beard's albums include Song of the Sun (1990), which features Wayne Shorter and Michael Brecker; Lost at the Carnival (1995); Truly (1997); Advocate (2000); Revolutions (2008); Show of Hands (2013); and Chunks and Chairknobs (2019). [15]
His music productions and compositions have been nominated for seven Grammy Awards. He won a Grammy in 2007 as a featured performer on Some Skunk Funk (Randy and Michael Brecker). [10]
Beard taught at Berklee College of Music in Boston, the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, and the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York. [16] He had taught graduate-level arranging, composing, and improvisation. [17]
Beard died at a hospital in New York City, on March 2, 2024, at age 63. [10]
Steely Dan is an American pop rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Originally having a full band lineup, by the end of 1974 Becker and Fagen chose to stop playing live and continue Steely Dan as a studio-only duo, utilising a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies".
John McLaughlin, also known as Mahavishnu, is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues. After contributing to several key British groups of the early 1960s, McLaughlin made Extrapolation, his first album as a bandleader, in 1969. He then moved to the U.S., where he played with drummer Tony Williams's group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his electric jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, and On the Corner. His 1970s electric band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, performed a technically virtuosic and complex style of music that fused electric jazz and rock with Indian influences.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 and from 1984 to 1987. With its first line-up consisting of musicians Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, and Rick Laird, the band received its initial acclaim for its complex, intense music consisting of a blend of Indian classical music, jazz, and psychedelic rock as well as its dynamic live performances between 1971 and 1973. Many members of the band have gone on to acclaimed careers of their own in the jazz and jazz fusion genres.
Birds of Fire is the second studio album by jazz fusion band the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was released in 1973 by Columbia Records and is the last studio album released by the original line-up before it dissolved.
Jerry Goodman is an American violinist known for playing electric violin with The Flock and the jazz fusion ensemble Mahavishnu Orchestra.
William D. Evans is an American jazz saxophonist, who was a member of the Miles Davis group in the 1980s and has since led several of his own bands, including Push and Soulgrass. Evans plays tenor and soprano saxophones. He has recorded over 17 solo albums and received two Grammy Award nominations. He recorded an award-winning album called Bill Evans – Vans Joint with the WDR Big Band in 2009.
Daniel Richard Gottlieb is an American drummer. He was a founding member of the Pat Metheny Group and was co-founder of Elements with Mark Egan.
Jon Herington is an American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and session musician.
Gary Husband is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist, keyboard player and bandleader. He is also a composer, arranger and producer.
Steve Khan is an American jazz guitarist.
Dennis Sandole born Dionigi Sandoli, was an American jazz guitarist, composer, and music educator from Philadelphia.
Inner Worlds is an album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was the group's sixth album release, as well as their last for nearly ten years.
William Riser III, better known as Ricky Lawson, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston, Steely Dan, Earl Klugh, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and other artists. He co-founded the jazz-fusion band Yellowjackets and won the 1987 Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance for "And You Know That" from their album Shades.
The Heart of Things is an electric jazz fusion album released by guitarist John McLaughlin on Verve in 1997. Musicians include saxophonist Gary Thomas, keyboardist Jim Beard, bassist Matthew Garrison and drummer Dennis Chambers. All compositions were by McLaughlin, who also produced the album.
Don't Try This at Home is the second album by American jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker, that was released on Impulse! records in 1988. In 1989, the album won a Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.
The Joy of Flying is a jazz fusion album by Tony Williams. It was recorded at the end of the Tony Williams Lifetime years, and is considered his first solo album since 1966. It included three duets, two with Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboardist Jan Hammer, and one with free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, and three different quartets: the first featured Hammer along with guitarist George Benson and bassist Paul Jackson, the second featured pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Stanley Clarke and Tom Scott on Lyricon, and the third featured guitarist Ronnie Montrose, keyboardist Brian Auger, and bass guitarist Mario Cipollina. "Hip Skip" also featured a five piece horn section.
Voices is an album by Mike Stern, released in 2001 through Atlantic Records. The album reached a peak position of number twenty-three on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.
Now You See It… is an album by Michael Brecker. It was recorded in 1990 and released by GRP Records.
Robert Avel Holz is an American drummer and composer. Holz was born in Syracuse, New York and resides in Los Angeles, California. He played with jazz guitarist Larry Coryell's trio between 2015 and 2017 appearing at major venues such as Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.; and, has led his own groups: Bob Holz and A Vision Forward, and Bob Holz Band.