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| 4.600 Ft
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| 1. | Steady as She Goes
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| 2. | Love Calls
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| 3. | Oh Yeah
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| 4. | Message to Mark
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| 5. | Shirlitta
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| 6. | Free Your Mind
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| 7. | Dukezillia
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| 8. | Just Breathe
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| 9. | Barack's Groove
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| 10. | She Can't Help It
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| 11. | Miss Minnie
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Jazz
Walter Beasley - Author, Producer, Saxophone, Vocals
Bill McKinley - Bass
Craig Shaw - Bass
Derek Cannon - Trumpet
James K. Lloyd - Keyboards, Producer, Programming
Jeff Lockhart - Guitar
John Roberts & Tony Barrand - Drums, Percussion, Producer, Vocals (Background)
Lynne Fiddmont - Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Rafael Pereira - Percussion
Randall Bowland - Guitar
Rick Watford - Guitar
Sam Sims - Bass
Sean Michael Ray - Bass
Tony Watson, Jr. - Saxophone
Walter Barnes & His Royal Creolians - Bass
With his third Heads Up release, Free Your Mind, saxophonist/vocalist/educator Walter Beasley attempts to make sense of recent emotionally charged events - some global, some personal - that have changed his perspective on his own life in particular and the human experience in general.
"All I wanted to do with this record was accurately reflect the times and how I felt about them," says Beasley. Standout tracks include "Barack's Groove," a cool and self-assured piece underscored by an African rhythm (as the title suggests, it's a tribute to the equally cool and self-assured president-elect); "DukeZillia," a nod to jazz and R&B legend George Duke; and the poignant "Miss Minnie," written for Minnie Dangerfield, a close friend of Beasley's family and an important influence on the artist's life. In addition to Beasley's own compositions, Free Your Mind also includes the work of a number of guest songwriters, including Kem L. Owen and Pieces of a Dream keyboardist James Lloyd, who pens five of the album's 11 tracks.
For Beasley, the making of Free Your Mind was a learning experience, not just musically but also emotionally - perhaps even spiritually. "This is a more mature piece of work than anything else I've ever recorded," he says. "I've done some growing up, and this album is a reflection of that process. You get to a point in your life where you realize that music is not everything. It usually happens when you start losing people who have been close to you for years and years. That's a wake-up call. Now I appreciate every breath I take, and every relationship I'm in. I appreciate all the things I did right in my life, and I appreciate all the things I did wrong too. I want all those things to be a part of the legacy of my music. That legacy is something I'm not going to compromise."
* Dave Love - Executive Producer
* Martin Walters - Mixing
* Paul Blakemore - Mastering
* Paul Greco - Photography
* Robert Hoffman - Art Direction, Design
The frustrating thing about smooth jazz isn't an absence of talent or chops; actually, there are plenty of smooth jazz musicians who have chops galore even though their studio recordings don't reflect that. At smooth jazz concerts, it isn't hard to find artists who take a lot more chances on-stage than they do in the studio. But taking chances in the studio isn't conducive to airplay on commercial smooth jazz/NAC radio stations, which is why so many generic, unimaginative smooth jazz recordings have been flooding the market since the 1980s. Walter Beasley has certainly given listeners plenty of generic, unimaginative recordings over the years, but not everything he records is without merit -- and Free Your Mind does have its moments. Beasley, true to form, provides his share of lightweight, forgettable background music on this early-2009 release; smooth jazz stations are famous -- or rather, infamous -- for encouraging that type of approach, and Beasley is often willing to give them what they want. But when Beasley takes some chances, the listener catches occasional glimpses of what he is capable of. The veteran saxman lets loose on "Shirlitta" (which boasts an addictive Afro-Cuban-minded groove) and the appealing, Brazilian-influenced "DukeZillia" (named after pianist/keyboardist George Duke, who has made some fine contributions to Brazilian jazz along the way). Beasley is obviously quite fond of Latin music, and the influence of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music is a plus on Free Your Mind. Also noteworthy is "Barack's Groove," which was written for Barack Obama and offers a bit of a Central African flavor. Definitely a mixed bag, this CD has both its ups and its downs. Free Your Mind has its moments, but like so many smooth jazz musicians who often shortchange themselves creatively, Beasley is capable of much more.
---Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Walter Beasley
Active Decades: '80s, '90s and '00s
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Contemporary Jazz, Crossover Jazz, Fusion, Smooth Jazz, Urban
An R&B-ish player whose music sometimes crosses over into jazz, Walter Beasley's sound is a perfect paradigm for defining "contemporary" or "smooth" jazz, and he a talented musician. After briefly playing trumpet, Beasley switched to saxophone when he was nine and was soon inspired by Grover Washington, Jr. He attended Berklee College and, after graduating at age 22, became one of the school's teachers. In 1987, Beasley released his first self-titled album and since then has recorded two sets for Mercury and several for Shanachie (culminating with Rendezvous in 2002), in addition to often accompanying R&B singers. In 2005, he released his debut for Heads-Up, For Her. In 2006, Shanchie released Live, a concert club set from 1998. The studio album Ready for Love followed in 2007.
--- Scott Yanow, All Music Guide |
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