Recently Jim Beard passed at the young age of 63. Beard was best known for compositions, arrangements, and keyboard stylings in a fusion context; he was a key collaborator for Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Michael and Randy Brecker, and a long list of others.
A luminous solo piano reharmonization of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (under the name of the original, "To Anacreon in Heaven") showcases Beard's harmonic language in miniature. If you played me this in a blindfold test, I'd say, "It sounds like Jim Beard."
The old lyric seems somehow relevant to Beard's role as handmaiden to star soloists:
"Voice, Fiddle, and Flute, no longer be mute, I'll lend you my Name and inspire you to boot."
Both George Colligan and Pablo Held interviewed Jim Beard, and both Colligan and Held cite Beard’s album Advocate, especially the first track, “Fever.”
I checked out “Fever” and really dig it, especially the burning keyboard improvisation by Beard himself. The other musicians include Matthew Garrison, Zach Danziger, Gene Lake, Jon Herington, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, and Bob Malach.
Kush Abadey recommended John McLaughlin’s The Heart of Things; on my own I discovered Dieter Ilg’s Summerhill. Both of these ‘90’s fusion albums have hot blowing from all-stars with Beard’s keyboards as the central organizing principle.
Warren Bernhardt passed in 2022 at the age of 83. To some extent Bernhardt and Jim Beard were part of the same lineage; at the very least, they both played with many of the same musicians, including manning an extensive collection of keyboard gear for tours with Steely Dan.
The club Seventh Avenue South was founded by Michael and Randy Brecker and located mere blocks away from the Village Vanguard. It lasted about a decade; a flyer from the end of 1983 shows several intriguing bands that never made a record. Anthony Cox was on the Jon Faddis/NYE gig, and Anthony told me the rest of the group was Greg Osby, James Williams, and Kenny Washington.
There’s excellent video of a high-powered Mike Maineri set with Warren Bernhardt, Bob Mintzer, Eddie Gomez, and Omar Hakim in 1981. Bernhardt is featured heavily in this segment. Impressive chops! I’m not so familiar with this milieu, but my impression is that all five members bring their A-game. A time and a place. God bless.
Another pianist who would have certainly played at Seventh Avenue South is Richard Tee. Like Jim Beard and Warren Bernhardt, Tee was comfortable patching in keyboards and synthesizers in a purely pop environment, but also could be creative in a more open situation. Probably the most exposed examples of Tee playing acoustic piano improvisations are either with Stuff or that band’s sequel The Gadd Gang.
A true find is a relaxed and conversational 1984 instructional video, Contemporary Piano. This is about the funkiest solo piano I’ve ever seen. What a groove!
It’s very amusing that A) Tee starts with “Spinning Song” by Albert Ellmenreich, which is something that all young pianists are made to play but I had completely forgotten about
and B) that Tee says you should always practice with a metronome. Duly noted.
Warren and I shared keyboard duties doing 90-something concerts together with Simon and Garfunkel (2003, 2004, 2009 and an aborted 2010.) He was a great cat, a great player and a great hang. I was also friends with Jim from the late 80’s or early 90’s. It’s really hard to see them going… Anyway, both super players. (I also remember Warren telling me that Josef Lhevinne was sometimes at their summer place when he was a kid in Wisconsin!)