John Beasley (musician)
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| John Beasley | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 1960 |
| Origin | Texas, USA |
| Genre(s) | Jazz, Blues, Soul, R&B, Funk, Classical, Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, producer, arranger, pianist |
| Instrument(s) | Piano, Keyboards, |
| Years active | 30 years |
| Label(s) | Windham Hill Jazz, EWE, Japan, Beasley Music |
| Website | Official website, My Space |
John Beasley (born 1960) is a composer, jazz pianist, producer, arranger who has recorded and performed with the who's who of the music world such as musicians as diverse as Miles Davis, Steely Dan, Chaka Kahn, James Brown, Spice Girls, Dianne Reeves, Ry Cooder, Chick Corea and Sergio Mendes, Freddie Hubbard, John Patittuci, Barbra Streisand, Ivan Lins, to name a few.
[edit] Origins
Beasley is third generation musician. He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in a house filled with music. His grandfather, Rule Oliver, played trombone in territory bands and was a junior high school band director for 50 years in Arkansas. His mother, Lida Beasley, is a brass instrumentalist. For most of her career, she taught music at various public schools and colleges, along with being band director and conducting operas.
Growing up around musicians, John learned how to play trumpet, oboe, drums, saxophone, and flute, mostly because of his mother's need for wind instrumentalists for her bands. His father, Rule Beasley, is a pianist and bassoonist, who played with the Fort Worth Symphony. Also, he was a professor of music composition at North Texas State University and at Santa Monica College, where he taught many performing musicians today.
John created a drum set with garbage can lids and kitchen pots and pans when he was around two years old. His grandfather started bringing him drum parts, which he put together, and had a drum set from age four to high school. Beasley began piano lessons at age seven and stopped taking formal lessons when he started high school. In 6th grade, he had private lessons with a university oboe teacher which lasted 3 years. He taught himself to play the sax, flute, and trumpet and began playing for the John Adams Junior School and Santa Monica College orchestras that his mother led. He was also in the state choir but quit because he was bored.
Born in Louisiana, the cradle of jazz, Beasley started writing compositions in junior high school. After his father bought him a Bobby Timmons record, he wanted to play jazz. Even though he was in grade 7, he decided to form a jazz band with friends who were in high school. Always daydreaming as a kid, mesmerized by inner melodies, on camping trips he would take his score pad and compose and do arrangements.
As soon as he graduated from high school, he started 'gigging'; playing in bars when he was too young to get entry as a customer. Fearless about learning and performing, in just a few years he was touring around the U.S. and internationally with Sergio Mendes and Freddie Hubbard.
[edit] Career
At age 14, John wrote a jazz piece for the University of North Texas Jazz Band. Jimmy Lyons, founder of the Monterey Jazz Festival, heard Beasley's piece and recommended him for a scholarship at the Stan Kenton summer jazz camp. The Stan Kenton Orchestra performed Beasley's composition at the camp, and then added it to its repertoire that year.
Declining an oboe scholarship from the Juilliard, Beasley went on to tour and record with Miles Davis, Steely Dan, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, Baaba Maal, Queen Latifah, Christian McBride and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Chaka Khan, James Brown, and John Pattituci to name just a few. Recognizing Beasley's talent for composing and arranging, major recording artists have added Beasley's original sound and music to their projects.
At the young age of 24, Beasley started writing music for Paramount, Disney, and MGMs television shows, including Cheers, Family Ties, Star Trek, and Fame. He also wrote the Touchstone TV logo, which is still used today. His first brush with Hollywood films was as a pianist playing on film scores for film luminaries such as Thomas Newman, Dave Grusin, Alan Silvestri, and Carmine Coppola in box office hits such as Finding Nemo, Erin Brockovich, The Godfather III, A Bug's Life, and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. He composes pro bono for films and podcasts for Nobel Peace Prize winning Doctors Without Borders. Along the way, Beasley has written award winning commercials for ad agencies in the US and Germany for over 20 years. While touring with Miles Davis, Beasley was inspired to release his first of seven original recordings.
Today, Beasley continues to work in TV, film, and commercial projects, while writing new music for recordings, producing artists, and balancing his work on reality/game shows, American Idol, Pussycat Dolls Present, America's Got Talent, and Singing Bee.
