Jazz Articles about Gordon Beck

Nucleus: Nucleus Live at the BBC

by Maurizio Comandini
March 21, 2022

Dio salvi la regina. E la BBC. L'emittente di stato britannica ha capito fin da subito che da quelle belle energie musicali, che spuntavano come l'erba di Hyde Park sotto al tiepido sole di quelle latitudini, passavano le scelte esistenziali e culturali delle nuove generazioni e sin dagli anni sessanta ha dato ampio spazio alla musica, premiando non solo il pop ma anche le proposte più articolate e di nicchia e ha conservato in archivio una buona parte di quelle ...

Alan Wakeman: The Octet Broadcasts 1969 and 1979

by Chris May
August 23, 2020

Despite a perception fostered by the more breathless media coverage given to the young lions who have emerged on the London scene since the mid 2010s, an identifiably British strand of jazz did not kick off when Shabaka Hutchings' Sons Of Kemet released its debut album in 2013. The groundwork was laid back in the 1950s by musicians such as saxophonist Joe Harriott and pianist Stan Tracey. In the 1970s, two bandleaders who carried the torch for ...

Gordon Beck Quartet Featuring Joy Marshall: When Sunny Gets Blue: Spring ’68 Sessions

by Roger Farbey
November 12, 2018

For British jazz fans, the late Gordon Beck probably needs no introduction. Beck was undoubtedly one of the best and most undervalued pianists the UK has produced. Joy Marshall, however, is perhaps not so well-known. Born in New York, Marshall moved to England in 1962 at the age of 25, where she resided until her tragic death in November 1968. She married saxophonist Peter King in November 1962, but later became romantically involved with Tubby Hayes, who was smitten by ...

Gordon Beck: Jubilation! Trios, Quartets and Septets In Session 1964-1984

by Roger Farbey
May 11, 2018

For this 3 CD box set, the estate of Gordon Beck, who died on 6 November 2011 aged 76, granted access to Beck's collection of analogue tapes of live and some studio performances. None of these recordings has ever been previously released. Beck was indubitably one of Britain's finest jazz pianists. He recorded on three key Tubby Hayes albums, 100% Proof and two live albums, Late Spot At Scott's and Down In The Village, considered by many to be Hayes's ...

Gordon Beck: Jazz Trio

by Marc Medwin
July 5, 2006

British pianist Gordon Beck is simply not as well known here in the States as he should be, given his long and fruitful career, and hopefully this reissue of a 1972 release on the Italian Dire label will help set that right. The propulsive rhythm section of what at that time constituted the Phil Woods Rhythm Machine gets two extended workouts, all recorded in one morning while on a European tour. It would be fine to cite ...

Gordon Beck: Gyroscope

by Andrey Henkin
July 17, 2002

Like Stan Tracey and Howard Riley, British pianist Gordon Beck suffers from his own obscurity. In addition to having played with the considerable British personality Allan Holdsworth, Beck's third and fourth records as leader, Experiments with Pops (released by Major Minor) and Gyroscope (released on Morgan), featured two of British jazz' major figures, guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Tony Oxley. For all of these associations, few actually know of Beck's work. The reissue of both on the private label Art ...

The Gordon Beck Quartet / Gary Husband: Experiments with POP / The Things I See

by C. Michael Bailey
August 1, 2001

The wares of a new independent jazz label.

I was not holding out much hope for these recordings. I had just listened to and reviewed Bobby Timmons— Quartets and Orchestra (Milestone 47091), which included some jazz treatments of late 1960s pop songs that did not completely work. In that case, I felt that the effort to assimilate more contemporary pop songs into the jazz standard canon had failed (thought the disc is worthwhile for the remaining pieces). Experiments with POP, ...