Joe Beck - R.I.P.

[Captain Bacardi]

Sad news to pass along as jazz guitarist Joe Beck died Tuesday at the age of 62. This is what I received from John Pisano:

Dear Friends and Music Lovers,

We wanted you all to know of the passing of our beloved friend and
colleague, Joe Beck. He died July 22nd in Woodbury, Ct. from
complications of lung cancer.

His wife, Marsi, would welcome your thoughts and sympathies through
email, but please don't expect a response as she will no doubt be
overwhelmed. Her email is [email protected]

A service is planned in Woodbury for July 29th, which would have been
his 63rd birthday.

He will be deeply missed for both his marvelous music and wonderful
sense of humor. We have lost a great friend and a great guitarist.

Our best wishes to you all,

John and Jeanne Pisano

Beck had played on quite a few albums for A&M, especially with Quincy Jones.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[LPJim]

Such sad news.

One of his finest performances was on "Wichita Lineman" from BETWIXT & BETWEEN by J&K (Johnson and Winding - A&M SP 3016). Fantastic fuzz tone work.

JB

 

[seashorepiano]

I think that Beck's fuzz tone guitar on that album was a very cool, hip addition. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with any of his other work, but I'll have to look into it...

 

[Dave]

I have had two of his solo albums Beck, a very quasi-Jazzy effort and Watch The Time, a more Pop-oriented showcase of his fine playing... A Lena Horne album back cover shows him with his son on his shoulder... I also admire his guest shots on J.J.&K.'s Betwixt & Between among other A&M/CTi and mostly CTi and Kudo offerings, backing such luminaries such as Lalo Shifrin, Patti Austin and Idris Muhammed (who started off as Leo Morris on the J.J.&K. album and his earlier sessions)...

What a shame to be reading of yet, another sudden death...!


Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Here's an obit from the JazzTimes site:

Guitarist Joe Beck Dead at 62

Joe Beck, an acclaimed jazz guitarist whose career began in the 1960s, died of complications from lung cancer on July 22nd in Woodbury, Conn. Beck would have turned 63 on July 29th.

Born in Philadelphia, Beck recorded numerous albums as a leader and in tandem with other artists. A list on a Yahoo Web site credits Beck with having contributed to recordings by Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, Paul Desmond, Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Larry Coryell, Gene Ammons, Sergio Mendes, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Laura Nyro, Houston Person, Roger Kellaway, Richie Havens, Paul Simon, Joe Farrell, James Brown and Gato Barbieri.

Beck made his professional debut with Paul Winter’s group in 1964, then went on to play with Gary McFarland, Charles Lloyd and Chico Hamilton. Beck joined Gil Evans’ orchestra from 1967 to 1971. During this period he also became the first guitarist in a Miles Davis band (in 1967), recorded as a sideman for CTI Records and recorded his first album under his own name, 1969’s Nature Boy on Verve. In 1970 Beck and the flamenco guitarist Sabicas recorded an album together, Rock Encounter, which was intended to merge the seemingly disparate worlds of flamenco and rock.

In 1971, Beck left music for three years to become a dairy farmer, citing frustration with his career. He returned in the mid-’70s and recorded an album for the CTI spinoff Kudu Records, which was issued only in Japan—he also continued to work as a sideman for CTI-related projects. Beck also recorded for Polydor, Columbia and, primarily, DMP, on which he released a string of albums from the mid-’80s to 2001. His most recent release was Coincidence, an album of duets with fellow guitarist John Abercrombie on the Whaling City label. Previous co-artist projects included recordings with Mike Mainieri, John Babarian and David Sanborn.

Beck also maintained a lucrative three-decade side career as a composer for TV and film, and produced and arranged for other artists, among them Frank Sinatra and Esther Phillips.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

Today is what would be Joe's 70th Birthday....

Quite a contrast between his work as a sideman (such as the legendary sessions on JJ&K Betwixt & Between) and the solo efforts that reveal his playing to be sometimes run of the mill...

Nature Boy on Verve is a fairly experimental folkish sort of effort; his singing, multi-tracked is fairly interesting & so are some moments of his guitar playing...

No surprise that his S/T album was done on Kudu, a CTI subsidiary, giving out a recognizable brand of mostly-jazz oriented fusion, but still some good work, though at times even with the stellar cast of sidemen, goes through some predictable paces...

What was the downer was Watch The Time featuring Tom Flynn's lead vocals... Too much given over to pop, and leaning towards the later George Benson, w/ Beck's own guitar work given rather short shrift...

Happy birthday & R.I.P. Joe...


-- Dave