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Jazz Articles about Walter Beasley
Walter Beasley: Free Your Mind
by Woodrow Wilkins
One knock on smooth jazz is that it really shouldn't be called jazz because it lacks any hint of improvisation. Another is that artists and producers take musicians out of the equation by employing programmers who replace bass and drums. Occasionally, an artist overcomes these negatives with solid songwriting or exceptional play. Walter Beasley accomplishes both on Free Your Mind. Beasley was a child when his aunt gave him a recording by Grover Washington Jr., a gift that ...
Continue ReadingWalter Beasley: Ready for Love
by Woodrow Wilkins
For Walter Beasley, the journey began in the 1970s with recordings by Grover Washington Jr. and the dynamic duo of Robert Flack and Donny Hathaway. The former opened his mind and ears to the boundless world of the saxophone. The latter offered Hathaway's voice as an icon for inspiration. With a nod to Earth, Wind & Fire's “That's the Way of the World, Beasley, barely into his teens, started on his path toward musical paradise. On Ready for ...
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