John Beasley
John Rule Beasley
October 10, 1958
Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
Musician
Piano, keyboards
1980–present
Career[edit]
He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and grew up in Texas in a family of musicians.[3]
His grandfather, Rule Oliver, trombonist, for 50 years was a junior high school band director in Arkansas; his father, Rule Curtis Beasley, music educator, in 1963 won 1st prize in Composition at the Southeastern Composers League in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; his mother, Lida Beasley, brass instrumentalist, was a band director, conducted operas and taught music in various public schools and colleges.[4]
He approached music at the age of eight by studying piano, but in his teens, he played guitar, drums, saxophone, trumpet and oboe.[5]
Returning to piano and jazz, at the age of twenty he performed his first major concert at Carnegie Hall with Hubert Laws, John Patitucci and the drummer Joey Heredia.[6][7]
During the 1970s, he performed jazz and R&B in Los Angeles. He toured with Sergio Mendes, then worked as a studio musician. For several years he was a member of band led by Freddie Hubbard. In 1992 his debut album Cauldron, produced by Walter Becker, was released by Windham Hill.[8]
Awards[edit]
John Beasley has been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards and won 1.[11][12][13][14]
Pianist John Beasley won the 2021 Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella Grammy Award on March 14, 2021, for his arrangement of Donna Lee performed by his big band, MONK'estra, from the album MONK'estra Plays John Beasley, on Mack Avenue Records. He was nominated for a total of four Grammy Awards in 2021.[15]
63RD ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (2020)
Winer: BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTAL OR A CAPPELLA - Donna Lee
Nominations
BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM
Holy Room: Live At Alte Oper
BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM
MONK'estra Plays John Beasley
BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTS AND VOCALS
Asas Fechadas
Grammys 2021: Jazzman John Beasley on his four nominations
John Beasley Presents Monk'estra volumes 1 and 2 both garnered two Grammy nominations each at the 59th and 60th Grammy Awards in 2017 and 2018.
60TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (2017)
Nominations
BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM
MONK'estra Vol. 2
BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTAL OR A CAPPELLA
Ugly Beauty/Pannonica
59TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (2016)
Nominations
BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM
MONK'estra, Vol. 1
BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTAL OR A CAPPELLA
Ask Me Now
53rd ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS (2010)
Positootly earned a 2011 Grammy nomination for BEST JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING.