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Walter Beasley
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Walter Beasley is a performer who walks the line between soul and jazz music, never committing to one or the other, which gives his music something bigger than either genre. In his free time he teaches at the Berklee College of Music. Beasley stopped by the WERS studios for a live mix on The Secret Spot during Live Music Week 2006 and sat down with WERS.org to answer some questions.
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Like Najee and Kenny G, Walter Beasley is a jazz artist whose music is mainly embraced by those who aren't diehard jazzheads. His smooth compositions that meander along canals filled with his pristine saxophone streams would easily fit into Adult Contemporary and Quiet Storm radio formats.
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For Walter Beasley, the journey began in the 1970s with recordings by Grover Washington Jr. and the dynamic duo of Robert Flack and Donny Hathaway. The former opened his mind and ears to the boundless world of the saxophone. The latter offered Hathaway’s voice as an icon for inspiration. With a nod to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “That’s the Way of the World,†Beasley, barely into his teens, started on his path toward musical paradise.
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Since recording his self-titled debut album in 1987, Walter Beasley has remained committed to opening doors for up-n-coming musicians and working whenever possible with established artists. The academician in him comes through loud and clear when he earnestly expresses his concern over the lack of opportunities for his students and other young musicians desirous of honing their performance skills. "Funding has become a critical issue because budgets have been steadily drying up," he says. "And the lack of government programs has created an unfilled and unacceptable void in the area of live performance."
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After taking up the saxophone at nine and studying with former Count Basie band member Jimmy Cannon, Beasley eagerly began absorbing sounds as wide-ranging as Donny Hathaway, Cannonball Adderley, Grover Washington, Jr. and Earth, Wind and Fire. He added vocals and composition to the mix in high school and took it all to a higher level at
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While in Boston, Walter was selected by the Boston Jazz Society to receive its annual award whose past winners have included Branford Marsalis and Donald Harrison. In July of 2002, Walter walked away from the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland with third place in the 1st annual International Saxophone Competition, as well as winning the Audience's Favorite Award. In 2003, Walter moved to New York and began studying at Manhattan School of Music on a full tuition scholarship to receive a master’s in jazz performance. While in New York, Smith kept himself busy touring and performing with such artists as Roy Haynes and Ralph Peterson, as well as Bilal and Destiny’s Child. Smith recently performed in a Tsunami benefit concert with R&B vocalist Lauryn Hill in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Walter has performed all over the world participating in numerous national and international festivals as well as famed stages in the U.S. such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.
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Walter Beasley