Analogaddict Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I'm deeply saddened to see Jim Beard has passed away. He was a huge influence on me when I started getting into instrumental music and jazz, and has been a productive member of the music community for many years. For those of You who do not know him, here are two clips; "Diana", featuring Toots Thielemans "Camieff" Jim Beard, 26 August 1960 - 4 March 2024. Song of the Sun (CTI, 1990) Lost at the Carnival (Lipstick, 1994) Truly (Escapade, 1997) Advocate (JVC Victor, 1999) Revolutions (Intuition, 2008) Show of Hands (Sunnyside, 2013) "Chunks and Chairknobs" (Jazzline, 2019) 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 RIP. Song of the Sun is and was a favorite of mine. Weather Report vibe, but original to Jim and great improvisations. 1 2 Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephonic Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 RIP Maestro Quote local: Korg Nautilus 73 | Yamaha MODX8 away: GigPerformer home: Kawai RX-2 | Korg D1 | Roland Fantom X7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piktor Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Very sad news. He was a great artist and I really liked his writing. Beard recounted that in his time as a student of George Shearing, his teacher shared his enthusiasm for Weather Report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHarrell Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Damn. 😢 I'm mostly familiar with him from his time with Wayne Shorter in the 80s and 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Less than a decade ago he was touring with Steely Dan. RIP Mr. Jim Beard.😎 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarrell Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I bought his Song of the Sun album back in the 90's and really enjoyed it - great playing, really nice songs and arrangements - he just seemed to come at things from a different angle. RIP... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapes Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Can someone post a source? Can’t find anything online; I’m guessing it’s on FB, but I’m not there. I knew him a bit and even took a couple lessons with him. Sad news, if true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 It's definitely true. I found out Sunday from someone close to him. The family asked to not put it on social media then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Sorry to hear this. I saw him with the new Mahavishnu Orchestra at some point in the mid-80s. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctproduced Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 FYI. I went back and forward with Jim 3-years ago about discussing the who "Sun Of The Sun" period, the album, the film etc. Obviously I deeply regret not following through now. If you have not seen it, I've converted and upscaled the video while preserving the original digital soundtrack. ++Mark. https://ctproduced.com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctproduced Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Since "Song Of The Sun" didn't get much promotion, I've added a little more commentary and background in the following. Jim Beard and the Keyboard In the Sky – Creed Taylor Produced (ctproduced.com) https://www.ctproduced.com/jim-beard-and-the-keyboard-in-the-sky/ Today also marks the anniversary of Wes Montgommery's birthday, I published an interview from just before he died that shows where Wes was in terms of the "gone commercial" criticism. Thumb Produces Green for Wes Montgomery – Creed Taylor Produced (ctproduced.com) https://www.ctproduced.com/thumb-produces-green-for-wes-montgomery/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 On 3/5/2024 at 4:56 PM, tapes said: Can someone post a source? Can’t find anything online; I’m guessing it’s on FB, but I’m not there. I knew him a bit and even took a couple lessons with him. Sad news, if true. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/jim-beard-dead-steely-dan-1235844833/ Saw him several times touring with Steely Dan, backing up Donald Fagan on keyboards.. RIP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogholic Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Really saddened by this....can´t really believe it...just some weeks ago I was trying to get a friend hip to him and went thru a lot of YT-clips featuring him... Fantastic keyboard player and composer. I really like his solo albums. He was also one of Zawinul´s (few) favorites Saw him live 3 times in Sweden, first time with Scofield´s "Blue Matter" band in 87...still to this day the most intense gig I´ve ever seen... Then with Wayne Shorter and the last time I think it was with Victor Bailey. The last time I had a chance to talk to him...very humble guy. RIP Maestro and thank you for all the music! Quote All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogholic Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 On 3/5/2024 at 8:08 PM, ProfD said: Less than a decade ago he was touring with Steely Dan. RIP Mr. Jim Beard.😎 It was actually less than two months ago....last gig he did with them was January 20 in Phoenix... Quote All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapes Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Some really fantastic Rhodes soloing on this track! "Trip" from the album Ad-vo-cate, (1999) I've been recently getting really re-interested in this whole Y2K era of jazz, when a lot of artists combined drum loops and electronics with improvisation, so I have to check this out! He also played on Victor Bailey's (R.I.P.) 1989 album Bottom's Up. I've always loved the track "In The Hat", even though Jim is more in a supporting role obviously. Such a killer tune. Sounds weatherreportish, but not really. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogika Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Ad•vo•cate had me pick my jaw off the floor. And all my limbs. And my ego. Quote "The Angels of Libra are in the European vanguard of the [retro soul] movement" (Bill Buckley, Soul and Jazz and Funk) The Drawbars | off jazz organ trio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 7 hours ago, tapes said: Some really fantastic Rhodes soloing on this track! "Trip" from the album Ad-vo-cate, (1999) I've been recently getting really re-interested in this whole Y2K era of jazz, when a lot of artists combined drum loops and electronics with improvisation, so I have to check this out! He also played on Victor Bailey's (R.I.P.) 1989 album Bottom's Up. I've always loved the track "In The Hat", even though Jim is more in a supporting role obviously. Such a killer tune. Sounds weatherreportish, but not really. I was listening to Devil's Advocate yesterday and this exact Rhodes solo. I believe though, he was as good an all around keys player/sound designer as he was a soloist in a purely jazz way. That's why he was so busy playing with many greats on the jazz and pop world. Quote Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moj Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Jim Beard interview with Henry Hey. Great profile of his career and his creative muse. RIP Jim. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Watching that interview, YT offered me this. I sadly, didn't follow him much after Song of the Sun. He definitely left his stamp on music. That little music idea he uses in a lot of his compositions (ba-da ba-da, ba-da, ba-da ...) IMHO is unique in its simplicity and I can't say I ever noticed in any other artist. 1 Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogholic Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 On 3/9/2024 at 4:07 PM, 16251 said: Watching that interview, YT offered me this. I sadly, didn't follow him much after Song of the Sun. He definitely left his stamp on music. That little music idea he uses in a lot of his compositions (ba-da ba-da, ba-da, ba-da ...) IMHO is unique in its simplicity and I can't say I ever noticed in any other artist. Yeah exactly....my favorite "ba-da ba-da" is this one....I wore out this album....I even told him (and sang this "ba-da ba-da" for him) how much I loved this tune 1 Quote All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 4 hours ago, analogholic said: That's great. Honestly, I never heard this song before. I never get tired of that phrase. 1 Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floyd Tatum Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Wow, thanks Analogholic! Never heard of Jim Beard before, and never heard this music - it's really cool. Unusual hardly describes it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Randomly found this clip. Jim's solo starts around the 6 minute mark. Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzpiano88 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 5 hours ago, 16251 said: Randomly found this clip. Jim's solo starts around the 6 minute mark. Great Solo! Also great tune and album, "Loud Jazz". This was one of the first Jazz CDs I purchased back in the 80s. OT but a nice FYI: Rob Aries (our great guy in the forum here, Reezekeys) played keyboards on the Album. Quote J a z z P i a n o 8 8 -- Yamaha C7D Montage M8x | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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