Search - Jim Beard :: Lost at the Carnival

Criminally underrated

Michael Kydonieus | San Francisco, CA United States | 08/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jim Beard is the most important jazz keyboardist to emerge in the last 30 years or so. He is currently playing better than any other keyboardist that I know of, and that includes Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, Richie Beirach, and Keith Jarrett. His touch is subtle, his compositional sense refined, his sense of swing profound. His solos sound as though they're through-composed (which they aren't). Jim Beard is the only keyboardist I know of who can manipulate synthesizers to make them sound organic, instead of cheesy and dated. And his chops are SICK! Yet people persist in mistaking his work for fuzak. Get some ears, people! Just because this music sounds pretty instead of harsh and dissonant (for the record, I love dissonance), doesn't mean it isn't intellectually rigorous. Jim Beard is a contrarian, a subversive. He is equally disgusted by Kenny G (watered-down pap) and Wynton Marsalis (slavish adherence to post-bop cliches). He deliberately uses unfashionable references, like 70s pop and circus music as source material for his compositions. Listen carefully and you'll be rewarded with challenging tunes, tastefully intricate orchestrations and gorgeous improvisisations. If you would like to read more reviews like this, check out JazzboNotes.com.

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Jim Beard grooves hard

Bruce Gaitsch | Nashville, TN | 03/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have had the good fortune to hear this record as well as a few others by Mr. Beard and a funkier, more tasteful rebellious, wonderful pianist does not exist...Hat's off to the Mr Wizard...More...I want More"