Joe Beck
| Joe Beck | |
|---|---|
Beck in 1977
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| Background information | |
| Born |
July 29, 1945 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 22, 2008 (aged 62) Woodbury, Connecticut |
| Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion, post bop, mainstream jazz, soul jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1960s–2008 |
| Labels | Kudu, DMP, Whaling City Sound |
Joe Beck (July 29, 1945 – July 22, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who was active for over 30 years.
Born in Philadelphia, Beck moved to Manhattan in his teens, playing six nights a week in a trio setting, which gave him an opportunity to meet various people working in the thriving New York music scene. By the time he was 18, Stan Getz had used him to record some jingles, and in 1967 he recorded with Miles Davis. By 1968, at age 22, he was a member of the Gil Evans Orchestra. Beck described his early success in an interview near the end of his life:
Beck played in a variety of jazz styles, including jazz fusion, post bop, mainstream jazz and soul jazz, but also respected rock stylists and cross-over players (he was good friends with Larry Coryell) and briefly flirted with rock music styles himself in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In 1970 he released Rock Encounter on Polydor Records. In 1975 he released an eponymous album (upon which he simply referred to himself as "Beck") while recording the Esther Phillips album, What a Diff'rence a Day Makes, both on Kudu Records.Beck was subsequently reissued as Beck & Sanborn to cash in on the success of alto saxophonist David Sanborn. In 1978, he went for more of a rock sound by forming a band named "Leader". They performed in the Northeast and recorded demos at Sound Ideas Studios in New York City, but soon disbanded when the band's gear was stolen after a gig at Joyous Lake in . In the 1980s Beck recorded several CDs for the DMP Digital Music Products label, including co-billed work with the noted flautist Ali Ryerson. In 2000, he released a collaboration with Jimmy Bruno, Polarity, and Coincidence in 2008 with John Abercrombie.
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