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Joe Beck
During a career spanning five decades, Joe Beck has recorded with an incredible array of artists including Miles Davis (read a great interview with Joe from "The Last Miles" by George Cole) Gil Evans, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, Paul Desmond, Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Larry Coryell, Gene Ammons, Sergio Mendez, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Laura Nyro, Houston Person, Roger Kellaway, Richie Havens, Paul Simon, Joe Farrell, James Brown, Gato Barbieri, and countless others. Joe has been composing music for TV and film for thirty years and the recording industry (National Academy of Recording Arts And Sciences) has honored him five times with their Most Valuable Player Award. He has also recorded with the Royal Philharmonic orchestra in London, the Milan Philharmonic in Italy, and The Paris String Ensemble in France. Joe continues to do co-artist albums with a wide range of artists from Mike Mainieri to John Babarian (one of the world's foremost Middle Eastern musicians), to Sabicas (perhaps the greatest of all Flemenco guitarists), and David Sanborn ("Beck /Sanborn" on Columbia) . The most recent being the beautiful Alto Guitar/Vocal duo with Deborah Brown, "I Found My Thrill". Joe also arranged and produced many records including projects for Frank Sinatra, Gloria Gaynor, and two albums for Esther Phillips including her hit single, "What A Difference A Day Makes". Along the way Joe was signed to contracts with Columbia, Polydor, Verve, Gryphon, CTI, and MGM Records. Since the late '80's he has recorded four albums ("Relaxin'" , "Friends" ,"Back To Beck" , "The Journey") on the DMP label. as well as "Fingerpainting", on the Wavetone label which features Bill Evans on sax, Danny Gottlieb on drums, and Mark Egan on bass.
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Joe Beck Trio: Get Me Joe Beck
by Jack Bowers
The jazz world, it seems, has always been awash in talented guitarists, from Reinhardt and Christian through Montgomery, Pass, Farlow, Hall and their like to the present day. This is both a blessing and a curse, as only a handful of such splendid musicians are able to rise above the throng and become household names or even widely known. Joe Beck, who was one week shy of his sixty-third birthday when he died in July 2008, was one of those ...
Continue ReadingJoe Beck: Get Me Joe Beck
by Dan Bilawsky
It would be something of an understatement to say that the late Joe Beck was a fine guitarist. In truth, he was one of the most multifaceted players to wield the instrument during his lifetime. Beck was hailed for his funky fusion work, both as an individual and in combination with saxophonist David Sanborn, he was an ace studio musician, working with everybody from Miles Davis to Paul Simon to Gloria Gaynor, and he was a brilliant and daring interpreter ...
Continue ReadingJoe Beck & John Abercrombie: Coincidence
by Chris M. Slawecki
This duet album is a guitarist's dream. Both Joe Beck and John Abercrombie have unquestionable individual virtuosity plus experience in this format through previous tandem performances with Larry Coryell, John Scofield, Ralph Towner and similar luminaries. Together, they explore pillars from the traditional and more exploratory jazz canons including Mercer Ellington's “Things Ain't What They Used to Be," Miles Davis' “All Blues" and Ornette Coleman's “The Turnaround," plus new originals for the occasion, in witty and bright conversation ...
Continue ReadingJoe Beck: Trio 7 & Coincidence
by Budd Kopman
Guitarist Joe Beck's career has spanned fifty years, mostly below the below the radar since he has not spent much time as a leader, but rather has played behind many performers, inside and outside of jazz. His talent has been recognized by his receiving the Most Valuable Player Award five times by the National Academy of Recording Arts And Sciences during his thirty years of composing music for TV and movies. In any case, the two releases ...
Continue ReadingJoe Beck & John Abercrombie: Coincidence
by John Kelman
His ECM albums may be more overtly modern and left-of-center but, based on a 2004 AAJ interview, when John Abercrombie is at home practicing, it's usually in the context of jazz standards. For those who feel such well-trodden material has little left to offer in the way of either challenge or modern interpretation, the guitarist's duet with Joe Beck, Coincidence, will go a long way to encouraging naysayers to reconsider. Like Abercrombie, Beck is a guitarist with a ...
Continue ReadingJoe Beck: Tri07
by Chris M. Slawecki
Tri07 is a different type of release for Joe Beck. Which is a powerful statement, since this guitarists' guitarist has won the Most Valuable Player Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) five different times, and his career, which spans five decades, includes working with Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, Antonio Carlos Jobim and other geniuses.
Tri07 delivers two distinct Beck flavors: Adventurous improvisational explorations that deconstruct and reassemble pieces such as “You ...
Continue ReadingThe Joe Beck Trio: Just Friends
by C. Michael Bailey
This all-star date incorporates the aggressive electric sound of guitarist Joe Beck with the fusion bona fides of bassist Mark Egan and drummer Danny Gottlieb. These guys have been friends for some time and it shows in the excitement of the playing. Beck and his comrades mix it up rhythmically, sonically, electrically, and repertoire-wise. The group has no trouble taking on old ballads such as “I Love You" and “Just Friends" (check out Gottlieb’s brushes on the former and Egan’s ...
Continue ReadingGolden Earings
Source:
Mixed Media Promotion
GOLDEN EARRINGS SERVES AS A TESTAMENT TO TASTE, TALENT, AND EXCEPTIONAL CHEMISTRY
Golden Earrings is a triumph that recalls the past glory of classic guitar-vocal duets like Les Paul and Mary Ford or Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald. Bill Milkowski/liner notes
On its surface, Golden Earrings is a simple duet recording. Just beneath that surface, however, lie several extraordinary qualities. Most obviously, it's a duet recording between two special talents. Secondly, it is a testament to the work ...
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Remembering Whaling City Sound Guitarist Joe Beck
Source:
Mixed Media Promotion
Whaling City Sound guitarist Joe Beck, one of the instrument's great contemporary practitioners, died last week of lung cancer at a hospice in Danbury, CT, a few days before his 63rd birthday. Throughout his career, Beck, who recorded frequently for the New Bedford-based WCS label, worked with some of the very biggest names in jazz and pop. In a career that spanned five decades, Beck accompanied an extraordinary range of giants: Duke Ellington and Gil Evans, Miles Davis, Paul Desmond, ...
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Joe Beck Jazz Guitarist with Sinatra, Davis Dies
Source:
Michael Ricci
Joe Beck, 62; jazz guitarist collaborated with Sinatra, Davis, other top musicians was honored five times by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as a “Most Valuable Player."
Joe Beck, a jazz guitarist who collaborated with artists such as Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis and James Brown, died July 22 at a Connecticut hospice after battling lung cancer. He was 62. Beck got his start as a teenager in the 1960s playing in a jazz trio in New York. ...
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Jimmy Bruno & Joe Beck Perform at Jazz Month 2007
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
"Polarity" guitarists Jimmy Bruno & Joe Beck will be the finale performance of Jazz Month 2007 in Monmouth County New Jersey the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The Monmouth County Library hosts a month long series of renowned jazz musicians who perform every Sunday. Throughout November, the Jazz Month 2007 supplements the performances with jazz discussions and films for patrons and members. This week, on November 25 at 2PM, the recording Polarity recording duo will perform together once again and close out ...
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Three Joe Beck/Ali Ryerson Videos Posted @ AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
We posted the following videos today. Enjoy...
Ali Ryerson & Joe Beck Performance and Interview
This combination of music and interview gives us insight into what makes this duo tick. Ali and Joe talk about how they formed the duo and how the alto flute inspired Joe to use a special alto guitar he'd invented many years earlier. They've made their own sound and when you hear it you will be impressed. Ali and Joe's talent complement each ...
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