Joe Beck (July 29, 1945 – July 22, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who was active for over 40 years.
Born in Philadelphia, Beck moved to Manhattan in his teens, playing six nights a week in a trio setting, which gave him an opportunity to meet various people working in the thriving New York music scene. By the time he was 18, Stan Getz hired him to record jingles, and in 1967 he recorded with Miles Davis. By 1968, at age 22, he was a member of the Gil Evans Orchestra.
Beck played in a variety of jazz styles, including jazz fusion, post bop, mainstream jazz, and soul jazz, but also respected rock stylists and cross-over players (he was good friends with Larry Coryell) and briefly flirted with rock music styles himself in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He recorded as a guitarist with Miles Davis on tracks like “Water On The Pond” and “Circle In The Round“. The tracks from that session were not released until later as it was the first Miles recorded with electric guitar and he was concerned about the reception. Miles would later blame Beck for being the reason the epic 26-minute track was unreleaseable, but according Ian Carr’s biography of Miles, Beck had been “given the role of repeating a short rhythmic figure throughout the entire performance” it sounds more that Miles was generally unhappy with the tracks than specifically about Joe.
Joe first came to Creed Taylor’s attention while he recorded with Paul Desmond and with J.J. Johnson & Kai Winding on their A&M/CTI albums in late 1968. Beck was also a sideman for Don Sebesky’s self-titled “Don Sebesky & The Jazz Rock Syndrome“, produced by Esmond Edwards after Taylor had bailed on Verve to start CTI under the auspices of A&M. Thus, Beck had set course to become one of the more influential jazz-rock fusion guitarists of the era.
Coincidentally, one of Beck’s more bizarre albums was recorded in late 1969, this time with another Creed Taylor alumni, Sabicas. By the time the album was recorded, Sabicas a Spanish born flamenco guitarist and composer was nearly 60-years old. Judged by many to be one of the greatest flamenco guitarists ever. He was certainly one, if not the most important person to popularize flamenco outside of Spain.
In 1971, Beck left music for three years to become a dairy farmer, citing frustration with his career. In 1975 he released an eponymous album (upon which he simply referred to himself as "Beck") while recording the Esther Phillips album, What a Diff'rence a Day Makes, both for Kudu. Beck was subsequently reissued as Beck & Sanborn to cash in on the success of alto saxophonist David Sanborn.
In 1978, he went for more of a rock sound by forming a band named "Leader". They performed in the Northeast and recorded demos at Sound Ideas Studios in New York City, but soon disbanded when the band's gear was stolen after a gig at Joyous Lake in Woodstock, New York. In the 1980s Beck recorded for DMP including with flautist Ali Ryerson.
By 1989 Beck returned to dairy farming, an ill-fated investment that depleted most of his savings and by 1992 he returned to music at age 47, a little too old for the studio scene. He picked up his guitar and returned to playing what he called “real” music, touring Europe. In 1993, he was still on call and can be heard on James Brown’s “Funky Side of Town” from Brown’s Get On The Good Foot album. In 2000, he collaborated with guitarist Jimmy Bruno on Polarity, which extensively featured Beck's Alto guitar, and in 2008 on Coincidence with John Abercrombie.
Beck worked as a sideman or session guitarist with a wide variety of well-known jazz, rock, and fusion musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Miles Davis, Maynard Ferguson, Howard Roberts, Tommy Tedesco, Larry Coryell, John Abercrombie, Tom Scott, Jeremy Steig, and Gábor Szabó. In mid-life Beck spent less time playing and worked more as a composer of commercial jingles and as an arranger, writing arrangements for Frank Sinatra and Gloria Gaynor. Joe also arranged and produced many records including projects for Frank Sinatra, Gloria Gaynor, and two albums for Esther Phillips including her hit single, "What A Difference A Day Makes".
Beck died July 22, 2008, in Woodbury, Connecticut, of complications from lung cancer. His album Get Me Joe Beck was posthumously released in 2014.
(Edited from Wikipedia & Creed Taylor Produced)