Jim Beard

Jim Beard was raised in Philadelphia but went to New York in 1985 intent on a career as a pianist. Soon, however, he found his work as a composer in demand and thereafter pursued both aspects of his work. He toured worldwide with John McLaughlin in 1986, Wayne Shorter in 1986-1987, and Pat Metheny in 1992, and he also worked with John Scofield and Randy and Michael Brecker. While it might be apt to describe his as a jazz-rock repertoire, this fails to demonstrate its astonishingly eclectic nature. He drew upon several jazz forms as well as Latin, modern pop, rock, funk, and co...