传记
by Scott Yanow
An R&B-ish player whose music sometimes crosses over into jazz, Walter Beasleys sound is a bit derivative but he is 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 schools 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.
新泽西厂牌Shanachie一直是以经营世界音乐和Smooth Jazz为主,其中Smooth Jazz这一块聚集了大批有实力但名气稍逊的音乐家,就算是Chuck Loeb, Kim Waters这两根台柱和华纳GRP旗下的笼络的那些大牌音乐家相比,依旧是只能算是二流,黑人SAX手Walter Beasley应该算是Shanachie的另一根台柱,没有靓丽外表的他看来只能从音乐本身下功夫,来获取乐迷手中的钞票.另一方面,他选择了R&B作为音乐的突破口,来为自己获得一些电台播放率.其实整个Shanachie出品的Smooth Jazz都非常讨好Smooth Jazz Radio, R&B+Urban的形式非常容易造就Radio Hit,Walter Beasley深知这一点,所以他和Kim Waters一样,现在都是Smooth Urban Jazz的领军人物.
发行于2003年的专辑是Walter Beasley的一张商业成绩相当不错的专辑.整张专辑的韵味被定位在浪漫和优美,这可能就是市场所期望的.专辑中的重头Radio Hit是"Precious Moments",此曲的确是非常讨好的电台,旋律简单优美,节奏时尚,acoustic guitar和SAX的搭配也是主流商业音乐常用的伎俩,这样一首曲子从电波中传出来的时刻绝对要好于从CD机里."West Hamilton Groove"是另一首值得注意的单曲,因为这是专辑中少有的一首不smooth的作品,因为它很funky, 且upbeat,Walter Beasley口中的吹管也有节奏的发出一些不协调的音调,顿时增加更多的技巧成分.不过Walter Beasley真正的看家本领是演唱,"Suddenly","(Do I Ever) Cross Your Mind" 这两首单曲的人声部分都是由他自己完成的,旋律好,声线好,感情好,只是不是爵士,而是100%的R&B,不过这都不违反专辑的主题,而且一首R&B版本的"Don't Know Why"确实带来了不少有趣的东西,这重熟悉而有别样的韵味的确能够引人注意.但"All I Want"中的一长段女声RAP的确出乎意料,还好整个音乐氛围比较舒缓,不算离谱太多.但就算这样,专辑还是不很适合爵士爱好者来聆听, 过剩的R&B元素影响了其音乐概念,但作为一张以R&B因为为主导的Smooth Jazz专辑,应该算是出色的了,至少比刚刚跟风转来玩R&B的那些现代音乐家的作品强多了.
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