Jazz Articles about John Beasley

About John Beasley

Album Review

John Beasley: MONK'estra Plays John Beasley

Read "MONK'estra Plays John Beasley" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
December 17, 2020

In 2016 John Beasley gifted us with John Beasley Presents Monk'estra Volume 1 (Mack Avenue). The buzz of that superb record led to John Beasley Presents Monk'estra Volume 2 (Mack Avenue, 2017). Both records were Grammy nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. They were both more than Grammy worthy, but alas the competition is fierce. Beasley has been more than a Thelonious Monk fan throughout his life, including his now over forty years in the music industry. ...

SoCal Jazz

John Beasley: Master of All Trades

by Jim Worsley
April 4, 2019

In today's busy world, sometimes you just can't do it all. Apparently, John Beasley never received that memo. The pianist, composer, arranger, producer, music director, and film and TV composer is in high demand, and has an enormity of projects that would seem to belie the twenty-four hour day reality. It is perhaps the variance in scope and style of these collaborations that heighten the bar and, frankly, boggle the mind. The Louisiana born Beasley has a non-stop schedule (outlined ...

Album Review

John Beasley: Monk'estra, Vol. 2

Read "Monk'estra, Vol. 2" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
May 23, 2018

Dopo il primo volume (Monk'estra vol.1, Mack Avenue 2016), John Beasley amplia l'organico e invita nuovi ospiti per un'altra rivisitazione del pianeta Monk. Galvanizzato dalle ottime accoglienze del debutto, il bandleader presenta nuovi estrosi arrangiamenti dal classico songbook del pianista. In effetti il vocabolario orchestrale monkiano è quasi tutto da costruire se si eccettuano i progetti del 1959 e 1963 di Hall Overton e poco altro. John Beasley smussa l'originale dimensione angolare e allucinata dei brani, privilegando frenesia e colori ...

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Live Review

John Beasley’s Monk’estra At SFJAZZ

by Walter Atkins
November 12, 2017

John Beasley's Monk'estra SFJAZZ Thelonious Monk Centennial Celebration San Francisco, CA October 15, 2017 The double Grammy nominated Monk'estra big band lead by conductor/arranger and pianist John Beasley performed Sunday night in SFJAZZ's spacious Miner Auditorium. Released in September of this year, Beasley's Monk'estra Vol. 2 (Mack Avenue Records, 2017) had garnered some serious attention. This was also a special occasion commemorating Thelonious Monk's centennial and the audience was giddy with anticipation. Fans were ...

Lyrics

Nuove Orchestre Alla Ribalta

by Angelo Leonardi
September 6, 2017

Da anni non si vedevano all'opera tanti nuovi ensemble, sia negli Stati Uniti che in Europa. Le cinque formazioni che presentiamo spaziano da quella giovanile come l'italiana New Talents Jazz Orchestra guidata da Mario Corvini (Extempora) alla big band di John Beasley ricca di stelle (Monk'estra -Vol. 1); dai progetti norvegesi del pianista Rune Klakegg (Fjon) o della sperimentale Berlin Soundpainting Orchestra (Holothuria) alla Hip-Bone Big Band di Michael Davis, smagliante vetrina di trombonisti. Il tutto spazia tra ...

Live Review

Rigas Ritmi 2017

by Bruce Lindsay
July 12, 2017

Rigas Ritmi Festival Riga, Latvia 27 June-July 1 July 2017 Rigas Ritmi, held in Riga, the Latvian capital, for the past 17 years, always provides an intriguing mix of well-known and up and coming acts. The 2017 festival proved to be no exception to this rule, with pianist and MONK'estra leader John Beasley and blues singer/guitarist Ruthie Foster joining acts such as the Coco'nuts, the Riga Jazz Quartet and accordionist Simone Zanchini on the bill. The ...

Interview

John Beasley: Everyone Loves John

by Scott Mitchell
March 13, 2013

Keyboardist John Beasley (aka “The Bease" to friends and family) is a musician's musician and one of the busiest professionals in the game. His biography and list of credits are so broad and deep that they could fill an NFL playbook.If NASA or MIT were to invent a device that could measure creative and musical capacities, John Beasley would be one of the first artists to which they would hook it up.The short biography would read; ...