Jazz Articles about Joe Beck

Joe Beck Trio: Get Me Joe Beck

by Jack Bowers
April 22, 2014

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 ...

Joe Beck: Get Me Joe Beck

by Dan Bilawsky
April 17, 2014

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 ...

Joe Beck & John Abercrombie: Coincidence

by Chris M. Slawecki
August 9, 2008

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 ...

Joe Beck: Trio 7 & Coincidence

by Budd Kopman
April 16, 2008

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 ...

Joe Beck & John Abercrombie: Coincidence

by John Kelman
February 9, 2008

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 ...

Joe Beck: Tri07

by Chris M. Slawecki
July 5, 2007

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 ...

The Joe Beck Trio: Just Friends

by C. Michael Bailey
March 22, 2003

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 ...