Walter Beasley, Smooth jazz Artist

Walter Beasley is a jazz saxophonist, a professor of music at the Berklee College of Music, and founder of Affable Publishing and Affable Records. By the age of 13 he was singing in Spanish in a band called Los Elegantes, and he played in various bands and performed at clubs throughout middle and high school. Beasley graduated from Berklee in 1984, and a year later took a short-term teaching position at the same school, which became a permanent career. He is now professor at the school.

In 1987, he released his first, self-titled, album, and since 1998 has been a top ten best-selling saxophonists in the world. Having grown up as a fan of R&B and funk and trained in classical and jazz saxophone, his own style falls between contemporary R&B and contemporary jazz, a blend of music called “smooth jazz”. He is not only an alto and soprano saxophonist and a singer, but also a composer and producer. He is the founder and CEO of Affable Publishing, and the owner of Affable Records.

Born: El Centro, California, United States

Genre: Smooth Jazz, R&B

Walter Beasley is a popular saxophonist and singer with a mellow, R&B-influenced style, and has led a successful contemporary and smooth jazz career. Following his emergence in the late ’80s, he balanced his teaching career at Boston’s Berklee College of Music with issuing a steady stream of lyrical, groove-oriented albums like “Tonight We Love” (1997), “Rendezvous”, (2002) and “Ready for Love” (2007), the latter of which spawned three number one Billboard smooth jazz songs, including “I’m Back” and “Steady as She Goes.” He runs his own Affable Music label on which he issued 2019’s Going Home.

Walter Beasley briefly played trumpet before switching to the saxophone around age nine. Inspired by Grover Washington, Jr., he began learning jazz and played in various bands throughout junior high and high school. After high school, he attended Berklee College, where he graduated at age 22 and became one of the school’s teachers. In 1987, he made his solo debut with “Walter Beasley” on Verve. Two years later, he returned on Verve with “Just Kickin’ It”. Both of these albums showcased Beasley’s broad stylistic influences from jazz and funk to R&B, and found him both playing sax and singing.

During the ’90s, he moved to Mercury for “Intimacy” (1992) and “Private Time” (1995), after which he landed at Shanachie for an extended run, beginning with 1997’s “Tonight We Love” (1997), “For Your Pleasure” (1998) and “Rendezvous” (2002). These albums found Beasley incorporating hip-hop influences and settling into a strong quiet storm vibe. Around this time, he also began recording for Heads Up and his own Affable Records releasing “For Her” (2005) and “Ready for Love” (2007).

In 2010, he was back to Shanachie for “Backatcha!”. Several live albums followed before the studio date “I’m Back appeared” (2015) on Beasley’s own Affable label. Two years later, he issued the sensual “Blackstreams”. “Going Home” arrived in 2019, and included guest appearances by Phil Davis, Derek Cannon, and Tres Gilbert. Also that year, he guested on bassist Byron Miller’s number two Billboard-charting smooth jazz song “The B Spot.”

Artist Biography by Matt Collar

Biographical information courtesy of Wiki and ALLMUSIC; for more reading see links below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Beasley

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/walter-beasley-mn0000815597/biography