John Beasley

A versatile pianist, John Beasley is an adept jazz soloist whose work has straddled the post-bop, fusion, and contemporary styles. Beasley initially made his mark as a session and touring performer with luminaries like Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Sergio Mendes. He has also worked closely with John Patitucci and Thomas Newman. His own albums have found him moving from small group dates like 2001′s Surfacing and 2009′s Positootly!, to his bebop-centric work with his MONK’estra Big Band, as on 2016′s MONK'estra, Vol. 1 and 2020′s Grammy-winning MONK'estra Plays John Beasley. Born in 1960 in Shreveport, Louisiana, Beasley grew up in Texas in a musical family. His grandfather was a jazz trombonist who played in territory bands and was a middle school band director for many years in Arkansas. Similarly, his mother led bands and taught music, while his father was on the jazz faculty at North Texas State University. Beasley began piano lessons at age eight and played oboe in his high school orchestra. As a teenager, he also played guitar, drums, and saxophone in local rock bands, before deciding to focus on jazz piano. In 1977 his family moved to Los Angeles where he played both jazz and R&B locally. In 1980, he started working and touring with Sergio Mendes, an association that lasted several years. At the same time, he found work as a studio musician, producing music for several television series. He also spent six years as a member of Freddie Hubbard’s quintet, toured with Miles Davis in 1989, and has gigged/and or recorded with a bevy of artists, including John Patitucci, Eric Marienthal, Lee Ritenour, Michael Franks, and Peter Erskine. He has also contributed to numerous soundtracks by film composer Thomas Newman. As a leader, Beasley made his debut for Windham Hill Jazz with 1992′s Walter Becker-produced Cauldron, followed by 1993′s Change of Heart. In early 2001, he returned with Surfacing, a trio album on own Beasley Music with bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. He then moved to the Resonance label for 2008′s Letter to Herbie, a tribute to Herbie Hancock with contributions by bassist Christian McBride, drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, and trumpeter Roy Hargrove. A year later he earned his first Grammy-nomination for Positootly!, another post-bop album featuring Watts, bassist James Genus, trumpeter Brian Lynch, and saxophonist Bennie Maupin. 3 Brave Souls, a trio collaboration with Leon "Ndugu" Chancler and Darryl Jones, arrived in 2012. Along with his small group, Beasley helms his MONK'estra Big Band, arranging and exploring the works of Thelonious Monk along with bebop classics and original material. He debuted the ensemble with 2016′s MONK'estra, Vol.1, for which he earned a Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for his version of “Ask Me Now.” MONK'estra, Vol. 2 followed in 2017 and he picked up another Grammy nomination for his rendition of Monk’s “Ugly Beauty”/“Pannonica.” A third MONK'estra album, MONK'estra Plays John Beasley. arrived in 2020 and won the pianist his first Grammy Award for for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for his take on the bop standard “Donna Lee.” Following work with Bob Sheppard, the SWR Big Band, and others, he joined vocalist Maria Mendes for her 2022 album Saudade, Colour of Love.~ Matt Collar