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John Beasley
JOHN BEASLEY - pianist, composer, arranger, producer, music director
Double GRAMMY® Award winning, 14x Grammy nominated, 2x Latin Grammy nominated, and Emmy nominee, John Beasley is a versatile pianist, composer, arranger who began his career in his 20s backing jazz icons Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard. Since then, Beasley has performed with a wide range of artists, including Dianne Reeves, Ivan Lins, John Patitucci, Chaka Khan, Christian McBride, Carly Simon, to name a few. He was music director for international tours with Steely Dan, AR Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) and Queen Latifah and co-MD for Chucho Valdes La Creation tour.
Recording Artist
As a recording artist, Beasley has 18+ albums which have earned him two Grammys, 14 nominations and 2 Latin Grammy nominations. Beasley’s big band project, MONK’estra, is a trilogy of albums which earned him 6 consecutive GRAMMY nominations and a win.
Beasley released 3 albums in 2024 which just earned 2 Grammy nominations: "Returning to Forever" w/ Frankfurt Radio Big Band (Best Large Jazz Ensemble); "El Trio: Live in Italy" (Best Latin Jazz ablum); and "Butterfly Effect" piano & sax album with Magnus Lindgren.
His "Bird Lives" re-imagination of Charlie Parker's music with the Stuttgart's SWR Big Band and a string ensemble and Magnus Lindgren, earned a 2023 GRAMMY for the arrangement of "Scrapple from the Apple" and 3 nominations.
He ventured into 2 Fado-jazz projects with Portuguese singer Maria Mendes writing arrangements and conducting the Metropole Orkest. Both albums "Close to Me" and "Suadade: Colours of Love" earned 2 Latin Grammy nominations and two Grammy nominations. Close to Me also won the Dutch Edison award for "Best Jazz Vocal" album in 2021.
Music Director - Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz
When UNESCO declared April 30 as "International Jazz Day" in 2011, John Beasley was appointed Music Director for its annual global gala concerts, which are hosted by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. Since 2012, Beasley helmed concerts in Tangier, Paris, Istanbul, Osaka, St Petersburg, Havana, Melbourne, Washington DC, New Orleans, New York and Los Angeles, which were broadcast on PBS TV. The 2016 "Jazz at the White House" gala hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama earned Beasley an Emmy nomination for Best Musical Direction (ABC TV).
Film/TV
Beasley’s work as a composer-arranger-pianist extends beyond jazz with many credits in TV and film, particularly with 15x Oscar-nominee film composer Thomas Newman who has scored blockbusters, including Elemental, 1917, James Bond’s Spectre & Skyfall, Finding Dory, He Named Me Malala and Shawshank Redemption. Newman invited John to orchestrate & conduct his big band MONK’estra in Steven Soderbergh's "Let them all Talk" with Meryl Streep. At the age of 24, Beasley started composing for TV working for Paramount, Disney and other studios on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Cheers, Fame, to name a few series. He was handpicked to be Music Director for TV specials and singing competitions, including Sports Illustrated "50 Years of Beautiful", "Duets" with John Legend, "Sing Your Face Off", "The Search for the Next Pussycat Girl". For American Idol's 4th season, Beasley was Associate MD ushering Carrie Underwood to victory. He then spent a decade working as Lead Arranger for "American Idol" and "The Tonight Show" with Rickey Minor as MD.
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John Beasley, Jose Gola & Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez: El Trio Live in Italy
by Glenn Astarita
El Trio Live in Italy features the impressive line-up of Grammy Award-winner John Beasley on keyboards and synthesizers, José Gola on electric bass, and Horacio “El Negro" Hernandez on drums. Described as a dream threesome" of renowned musicians, this album is a product of their summer tour of Italy in 2022. The album's essence is a journey of three friends allowing the music to guide them. All three artists have a rich history, having toured with the maestro of Afro-Cuban ...
Continue ReadingDwight Trible: Ancient Future
by Chris May
This adventurous album takes spiritual jazz's premier vocalist out of his comfort zone and into the deep blue yonder. It is a work of extremes, beginning with a storm of avant-rock, funk and electronics and ending by spinning off into abstract space accompanied by a virtual headful of Stanley Owsley's finest. In short, Ancient Future will shave your ass. The album is the follow-up to Trible's outstanding Mothership (Gearbox, 2019), but aside from being on the same ...
Continue ReadingMaria Mendes: Saudade, Colours of Love
by Richard J Salvucci
Every language has words that defy translation. Take saudade" in Portuguese or Galician. Or fado." Go to a standard dictionary, and saudade" appears as nostalgia" or longing." In reality, a native speaker will tell you saudade" means a kind of indefinable melancholy for people, places or things that may only exist in the imagination, and fantasy" will not even come close. Fado" is an art form, defined as a mournful or fatalistic Portuguese folk song. Perhaps flamenco" is familiar, but ...
Continue ReadingThe Music of Thelonious Monk: John Beasley's MONK'estra Live
by Jim Worsley
If you are familiar with John Beasley's MONK'estra, then you may understand my excitement level at the prospects of seeing and hearing his music in a live show. The brilliance of Thelonious Monk's compositions propelled by the power and sass of big band swagger. This recent performance took place at The Barclay Performing Arts Center on the campus of UC Irvine. The city of Irvine is located on the south end of Orange County, about forty miles south of Los ...
Continue ReadingJohn Beasley, Magnus Lindgren, SWR Big Band: Bird Lives
by Jim Worsley
Round about 2017 there was a meeting of the minds. Composers and musicians John Beasley and Magnus Lindgren evolved as kindred spirits, and chose to work together on a project engulfing their shared appreciation of Charlie Parker. This tribute to the man who came to be known simply as Bird, had trouble taking flight. Obstacles, none bigger than Covid, came along and stood in the way. Dedicated to its completion, the pair, along with the SWR Big Band, has now ...
Continue ReadingMONK'estra: MONK'estra Plays John Beasley
by Jack Bowers
The MONK'estra is actually a number of groups of various shapes and sizes, from duo to big band, assembled under the guiding hand of composer, arranger & pianist John Beasley towait for it!"play John Beasley," an artist whose admiration for Thelonious Sphere Monk is clear throughout this buoyant and resourceful album, as it was on Volumes 1 and 2 of the series, in which the MONK'estra played Monk." Beasley wrote eight of the album's fourteen genial numbers ...
Continue ReadingTributes to Monk, Part 2
by Russell Perry
Around the 100th anniversary of Thelonious Monk's birth in 2017, there were so many excellent collections of his music released that the previous hour of programming couldn't contain them all. More Monk tributes from John Beasley and MONK'estra, the Microscopic Septet and Wadada Leo Smith in this hour of Jazz at 100 Today! Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Wadada Leo Smith solo Crepuscule With Nellie" from Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk (Tum Records) 3:01 Microscopic Septet Friday The ...
Continue Reading'El Trio - Live In Italy' with John Beasley, José Armando Gola, Horacio El Negro Hernández available on January 19, 2024 on Challenge Records
Source:
Vivo Musique Internationale
El Trio Live in Italy featuring John Beasley on piano, José Armando Gola on double bass and Horacio El Negro Hernández on drums. “El Trio touring in Italy in the summer of 2022 is about ‘eat, music, love’.” Three friends on stage letting the music play them. “To our godfather Chucho Valdés who has inspired each of us, given us a helping hand along the way, and put us up on stage alongside him. We are eternally grateful.” Street Date: ...
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SiriusXM's New, Original jazz radio show on Jazz Arranging "Flipped" with Host John Beasley
Source:
All About Jazz
To mark Jazz Appreciation Month, this April 2019, SiriusXM is launching a 4-part series on ‘arranging’. “Flipped” will explore what happens musically when jazz musicians rearrange or ‘flip’ songs from the Great American Songbook and make it their own. On SiriusXM Ch.67 “Flipped” Fridays, April 5, 12, 19, 26 @ 5-7:00pm ET / 2-4:00pm PT Rebroadcasts: Saturdays, April 6, 13, 20, 27 @ 6-8:00pm ET / 3-5:00 pm PT About John Beasley In the course of three decades, ...
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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova And UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock Announce Fourth Annual International Jazz Day
Source:
All About Jazz
PERFORMANCES & OUTREACH PROGRAMS TO TAKE PLACE WORLDWIDE ON APRIL 30, RECOGNIZING JAZZ MUSIC AS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF FREEDOM International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert in Global Host City Paris, France will be a highlight of UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary Celebration Paris and Washington, D.C. – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock are pleased to announce the fourth annual International Jazz Day, which will be celebrated around the world ...
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EastWest JazzScene Concert: Carl Allen, John Beasley, Eric Revis, Ralph Moore and Marquis Hill at Blue Whale
Source:
John Beasley
Sunday, February 22, 9:00pm and 10:30pm sets. $20. New York drummer Carl Allen brings his scene to jny: Los Angeles to join pianist John Beasley to lead a quintent for some east-west action. Joining this prospect are east/west coasters bassist Eric Revis, saxophonist Ralph Moore and trumpeter Marquis Hill. Carl Allen’s profound and propulsive percolations provided soulful and syncopated playing with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Benny Golson, Jennifer Holliday, J.J. Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Kenny ...
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3 Generations Of Freddie Hubbard Alumni at Blue Whale on October 11-12
Source:
John Beasley
A spontaneous Hub reunion of Freddie Hubbard’s band members. From the 70s, Henry Franklin on bass. Carrying the rhythm section in the 80s and 90s, Carl Allen on drums with John Beasley on keyboards, and standing out front on sax was Bob Sheppard. Joining the band in the 90s was Ralph Moore on sax. On the reunion stage, Ambrose Akinmusire join this alumni band. 2 nights, 4 sets in the spirit of Freddie! “I was changing the style of the ...
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John Beasley Sept-Oct Gig Calendar
Source:
John Beasley
WHAT'S ON with JOHN BEASLEYSeptember-October 2011 SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC! September 12 (Monday) Washington, DC Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz 25th Anniversary Gala Concert @ Kennedy Center John BeasleyMusic Director All-Star Gala Concert will honor Aretha Franklin with the Founder's Award. Performers include: Herbie Hancock, Ellis Marsalis, Jason Moran, Danilo Perez, Marcus Roberts, Jacky Terrasson, Ron Carter, Christian McBride, John Patitucci, Carl Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington, TS Monk, Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Wayne Shorter, Ambrose ...
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Concert: Jan 8 - John Beasley Positootly! Jazz Circle @ Blue Whale
Source:
Michael Ricci
John Beasley Positootly! Jazz Circle @ The Blue Whale GRAMMY NOMINATION: BEST JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM Positootly! (Resonance Records) John is truly an amazing pianist, imaginative composer, creative improviser and arranger. And with Positootly he created an album that people will look back as one of the first Jazz classic albums of the 21th century. WHEN: Saturday, January 8, 2011 BAND: Bennie Maupin (sax), Oscar Seaton (drums), Kevin Brandon (bass), John Beasley MUSIC: John Beasley Poistootly! Jazz Circle will feature music ...
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John Beasley Jazz Circle Concert: Live Webcast
Source:
Michael Ricci
On Thursday, Jan 28, 8pm to 10pm you can watch the John Beasley Jazz Circle Concert via the new LIVE web-TV Jazz Concert series at networksconcerts.com. Available for fans and music lovers from all over the world, this is a unique performance and event! Featuring ORIGINAL music spanning John Beasley's solo recording career from his critically acclaimed first release, Cauldron, to his latest release, Positootly, which has been on the Jazz Charts for five consecutive months since its release in ...
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Pianist John Beasley Releases "Positootly!" On Resonance Records
Source:
DL Media
In Demand Piano Veteran, Composer and Louisiana Native John Beasley Bows Second All-Star Release On Resonance Records Positootly!Follows His Acclaimed 2008 Release Letter To Herbie To my ears, he's absolutely one of the best of his generation" --Bennie MaupinVeteran pianist-composer-arranger John Beasley gained invaluable bandstand experience on the road with such revered jazz elders as Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis while also recording with the likes of Chick Corea, Hubert Laws and Dianne Reeves ...
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John Beasley "All-Star" Quartet at the Jazz Bakery
Source:
All About Jazz
Buster Williams, Bennie Maupin, Jeff Tain" Watts and John Beasley play the Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles December 4-6, 2008
Bandleader JOHN BEASLEY assembles bassist Buster Williams and multi-reedist Bennie Maupin, two original members of Herbie Hancock's Sextet (Mwandishi and Sextant), along with drummer Jeff Tain" Watts, who has performed on every Grammy Award winning jazz record by both Wynton and Branford Marsalis, to play music from Beasley's 2009 GRAMMY considered latest CD Letter to Herbie, a tribute album to Herbie ...
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John Beasley is one of the best pianists and improvisers on the jazz scene today. Beasley is a master musician, with total command of the jazz language, and his playing is always intense in both emotion and technique. —All About Jazz (Wilbert Sostre)
"The pianist and composer John Beasley has one of the most formidable tasks of anyone associated with today's International Jazz Day, the celebration produced by UNESCO and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. He's music director of the centerpiece concert to be live-streamed from Istanbul ...That means Beasley put together the lineups from a star-studded international cast, with a set list meant to charm the world
Primary Instrument
Piano
Location
Los Angeles
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Beasley has led music/jazz/piano clinics and workshops worldwide over the past 25 years across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America, including The Grammy Foundation's camps, Frost School of Music, U of Miami Manhattan School of Music Julliard Rutgers University The Music School (Utah), ASCAP (I Create Music) Politrius Music School (Guatemala), CoDarts, Rotterdam Conservatory Maastricht Conservatory Amsterdam Conservatory... to name a few Private lessons - rates are negotiable Hours - when not on tour
Clinic/Workshop Information
Photos
Music
3 For Africa
From: El Trio: Live in ItalyBy John Beasley
Hermeto's Fado for Maria
From: Saudade, Colours of LoveBy John Beasley
Small Hotel
From: In2uitionBy John Beasley
So Tired
From: Positootly!By John Beasley
4AM
From: Letter To HerbieBy John Beasley