Gordon Beck
| Gordon Beck | |
|---|---|
| Born |
16 September 1935 Brixton, London, England |
| Died |
6 November 2011 (aged 76) Ely, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1960–mid-2000s |
| Associated acts | Tubby Hayes, Phil Woods |
Gordon James Beck (16 September 1935[1] – 6 November 2011) was an English jazz pianist and composer. At the time of his death, 26 albums had been released under his name.[2]
Early life
Beck was born in Brixton, London, and attended Pinner County Grammar School – the school Reg Dwight (Elton John) and Simon Le Bon later attended. He had a sister, Judy.[3] He studied piano in his youth, but decided to go into a career as an engineering technical draughtsman.[4] He went to Canada in 1957 to pursue this first career.[2]
Later life and career
Largely self-taught, he returned to music after returning from Canada in 1958, where he was exposed to the works of George Shearing and Dave Brubeck.[2][5]
Beck became a professional musician in 1960.[2] That year, he played with saxophonist Don Byas in Monte Carlo.[3] Beck joined the Tubby Hayes group in 1962 back in England.[2] He led his own bands from 1965, including Gyroscope, from 1968, a trio with bassist Jeff Clyne and drummer Tony Oxley.[3] Beck first played with vocalist Helen Merrill in 1969 and continued the relationship into the 1990s when she toured Europe.[3] From 1969 to 1972 he toured with saxophonist Phil Woods's European Rhythm Machine. Beck recorded ten albums with Woods.[2] The pianist was a member of Nucleus during 1973–74.[3] In the 1960s and 1970s he was a house pianist at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.[3] Beck also played "experimental funk in the Swiss musician George Gruntz's six-keyboard group Piano Conclave (1973-75), and free jazz with [...] British improv drummer John Stevens (1977, 1982)."[3]
From middle age, Beck played predominantly in mainland Europe.[3] He also recorded albums with Allan Holdsworth, Henri Texier, Didier Lockwood and others. He often played solo from the 1980s and started teaching music at the same point.[3] He toured Japan with Holdsworth in 1985.[2] Beck stopped performing around 2005 because of poor health.[2] He died in Ely, Cambridgeshire, on 6 November 2011.[2]
Playing style
"He hardly ever played a cliche; he struck notes with a steely precision or a glistening delicacy depending on the mood, and his solos developed in constantly changing phrase lengths and rhythms that never sounded glib or routine."[3]
References
- ↑ http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-births-1837-2006?firstname=gordon%20j&lastname=beck&eventyear=1936&eventyear_offset=2&county=london
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Voce, Steve (11 November 2011) "Gordon Beck: Pianist Renowned for His Work with Tubby Hayes". Independent.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fordham, John (14 November 2011) "Gordon Bek Obituary". The Guardian.
- ↑ "Jazz breaking news: Jazz Pianist And Composer Gordon Beck Dies". Jazzwisemagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
- ↑ "Gordon Beck". DoTheMath.typepad.com. 2012-01-12. Archived from the original on 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2012-01-15.