Perry Beekman ....

"IT IS RARE TO FIND A JAZZ GUITARIST THAT 'BURNS' ON THE GUITAR AND SINGS SUPERBLY. SUCH IS THE CASE WITH PERRY BEEKMAN." - BRANDON BERNSTEIN (JUST JAZZ GUITAR MAGAZINE)

July 11th  8:00 PM
Maverick Concerts – Woodstock, NY  
The Perry Beekman Trio Plays Harold Arlen

www.maverickconcerts.org

Perry Beekman is a guitarist & vocalist

Perry Beekman is a guitarist & vocalist deeply rooted in the classic tradition of jazz.  His swinging, melodic guitar playing beautifully complements his rich, easy-going vocals. Featuring tunes from the Great American Songbook, his music is sophisticated, exciting, and fun. Perry is available in ensembles ranging from duo to quartet.

Now based in Woodstock, NY, Perry has been playing in jazz clubs, and at private and corporate events throughout New York City for the past 25 years. He has performed at such prominent venues as the Metropolitan Room, the Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel, The JVC Jazz Festival, and the Maverick Concert Hall.

read more: http://www.perrybeekman.com/about/

"Bewitched: Perry Beekman Sings and Plays Rodgers and Hart"

"Bewitched: Perry Beekman Sings and Plays Rodgers and Hart"

@ The Metropolitan Room

Friday, March 28th 9:30 PM

Featuring

Perry Beekman - Vocals & Guitar

Peter Tomlinson – Piano

Lou Pappas - Bass

From: Jazz Promo Services
Press Contact: Jim Eigo, jim@jazzpromoservices.com
www.jazzpromoservices.com
Guitarist, vocalist Perry Beekman is pleased to announce his new project, "Bewitched: Perry Beekman Sings and Plays Rodgers and Hart" @ The Metropolitan Room Friday, March 28th 9:30 PM.

"Bewitched" is the follow up to Perry’s 2013 debut release "So in Love: Perry Beekman  Sings And Plays Cole Porter." Here's what Perry has to say about his new project:

The collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart was an unlikely one. Rodgers was organized and businesslike, while Hart was a notoriously unreliable alcoholic. Yet in spite of their divergent personalities, their collaboration produced some of the most beloved entries in the Great American Songbook. I leave it to their contemporaries to elaborate further:

Tuneful and tasty, schmaltzy and smart.
Music by Rodgers, lyrics by Hart.” – Irving Berlin

It’s smooth! It’s smart! It’s Rodgers! It’s Hart!” – Cole Porter

The meticulously crafted music of Rodgers combined with Hart’s dazzling lyrics to produce over five hundred songs, populating twenty-eight theatrical productions and nine movies. This recording contains fifteen of my favorites, and I hope some of yours too.

The music on this CD is a combination of carefully planned, well-rehearsed arrangements, along with some good old fashioned “blowing.” (As we jazz folk like to call improvisation.) My goal has been to create a setting for each tune that helps express its essential nature. Here are some examples of what I mean:

- The enormously clever lyrical phrases of “I Wish I Were in Love Again” come one after another at an alarming rate. They have a percussive quality that led me to the vamp style introduction and accompaniment of the arrangement. In the instrumental break, I tried to mimic the phrasing musically with the guitar and piano.

- I find the melody of “Wait Till You See Her” to be extremely powerful in its simple beauty. So, for the instrumental section, I decided to showcase the melody with Lou’s artful bowing over a re-harmonized background provided by Peter and myself.

- I selected the bare bones guitar/voice treatment of “It Never Entered My Mind” to enhance the quality of the song’s deeply personal reckoning of love gone wrong.

- My semi-classical, instrumental treatment of “Blue Room” was inspired by the carefully measured intervallic steps of its melody. I envisioned the arrangement as collaboration between Richard Rodgers and J.S. Bach!

As I continue to explore the guitar, piano, bass trio format, new possibilities manifest themselves. I’ve come to think of my trio as a little big band, and have been trying to expand the palette of musical textures and colors available to explore the great beauty of the timeless classics that we play. (Including, but not limited to using my guitar as a bongo drum!)

Still, let there be no mistake; our goals here are to share the bountiful riches of the extraordinary Rodgers and Hart, swing hard, and to get you tapping your feet and smiling.

Once again, I have the privilege of recording with my working trio, featuring Peter Tomlinson on piano and Lou Pappas on bass. As always, I am greatly indebted to them for their inestimable contributions and commitment.

I am “Bewitched” with this music. I hope that you will be too.

Perry Beekman The Songs of Rodgers and Hart

From the time of his Jazz Epiphany – upon hearing “jazz guitar pioneer Charlie Christian, and the classic recordings of Billie Holiday and Lester Young” – at the age of 15, outstanding guitarist/vocalist Perry Beekman has committed himself to the classic traditions of jazz, particularly by means of the Great American Songbook.

            For his first CD as a leader, Perry has selected one of the most beloved and prolific of these composers, Cole Porter, for So In Love – Perry Beekman Sings And Plays Cole Porter.  Accompanied by the remarkably empathetic paring of Peter Tomlinson and Lou Pappas on piano and bass respectively, Perry has selected 15 wonderful Porter songs, all but one culled from Broadway musicals made immortal by Porter’s genius.

            In conceiving the CD, Perry considered calling it “A Tale of Two Coles” as he also offers homage to another of his musical heroes, Nat ‘King’ Cole, who revolutionized popular song with his drummerless trio of the same instrumentation.  Appealing to him because “It allows for both a great deal of individual expression, and the ability to create a wonderful group dynamic” Beekman provides full evidence of that instrumentation’s effectiveness with this delightful CD.

            Beekman has taken great care in providing an impressively tasteful approach in both selecting repertoire, as well as creating an ideal balance of deftly arranged and improvised interpretations.  He has also fully respected Porter’s expressed desire – as a rare composer who wrote both the music and lyrics – to stick to the lyrics as they were written.  Nonetheless, Perry’s interpretive imagination breathes special individuality into each of these highly regarded classics.

            In true jazz fashion, the interplay of the trio is magical – fully supporting Perry’s vocals while maintaining a deep sense of swing and total spontaneity.  The musicianship is exemplary, but never allows its virtuosity to interfere with the goal of presenting great songs in a highly compelling manner.  Unquestionably, the focus is upon the splendid vocals and guitar mastery of Perry Beekman.  His rich voice and impeccable phrasing blend perfectly with his striking guitar playing, evoking the rhythmic clarity of Barney Kessel, the single line improvisational sparkle of Johnny Smith and the soulfulness of Grant Green – all among his influences.  Short solos permeate most of the vocal-oriented works; each one ideally suited to the structure of each piece and without a wasted note or missed opportunity for expressiveness.

           There are two instrumentals.  Always True To You In My Fashion (from 1948’s Kiss Me Kate) is a vividly surging foray that gives everybody a chance to stretch a bit, while My Heart Belongs To Daddy (from Leave It To Me, 1938), is in delightful jump style stoked by vibrant walking bass.  Another piece – the gorgeous In The Still Of The Night (Rosalie, 1937) – begins as an instrumental, with Perry’s solo exploration in an almost Baroque, fugue -like fashion melding into a beautiful vocal plea.  An evocative tour de force.

            Another song from Kiss Me Kate is So In Love, a sinuously gentle ballad in a samba style with nearly telepathic interplay by the trio.  Perry’s love of Brazilian music is also in evidence in two of Porter’s most popular songs.  I Get a Kick Out Of You (Anything Goes, 1934) features a deliberate, moody vocal that lingers in tantalizing fashion just behind the gentle Bossa Nova beat; while Night And Day (Gay Divorce, 1932) strikes a somewhat bouncier mood, along with a delicious arco bass solo and rich piano flourishes.  It’s unlikely that Cole Porter was thinking in a Brazilian mode when he wrote these two songs, but he most certainly would approve.

            Swing of a more traditional jazz style is up front on Just One Of Those Things (Jubilee, 1935), an irresistibly joyful, full-throttle swinger.  Likewise, I Love Paris (Can Can, 1953), a deeply grooved easy swinger with Perry’s vocal swirling in, around, and under the insistent rhythmic thrust.   Anything Goes is a jaunty swinger marked by a vibrant, beautifully constructed guitar solo.  Let’s Misbehave (Paris, 1928) is playful, bouncy and teasingly appropriate for the subject matter of the lyrics.  Infectious ascending chord patterns provide the setting for the nicely syncopated romp, It’s De-Lovely (Red Hot And Blue, 1936) with a beautifully integrated guitar/bass, guitar/piano, and piano/bass soli section.  All five of these pieces open with a vocal intro in rubato time, providing terrific launching pads for the solid swing to follow.

           A couple of unusual rhythmic structures are used as well.  Let’s Do It (also from Paris) is in a relaxed march groove, built on propulsive chords.  The anthem-ish I Happen To Like New York (The New Yorkers, 1930) is a dramatic rendition stoked by stark piano chord clusters and dark bass.  The only song not from a Broadway show – Miss Otis Regrets – is a deeply touching ballad, featuring a most interesting contrast of cascading guitar lines and a doo-wop piano style.

           This brilliant album concludes with the third item from Anything Goes, You’re The Top, with a celebratory arrangement that ends the proceedings on a most upbeat note

           After performing in prominent venues and halls in and around New York City for the past 25 years, this long overdue album is a milestone in Perry Beekman’s long and accomplished career.

From the time of his Jazz Epiphany

Release Date: July 9, 2013, Availability: Worldwide

Selection #: ZM 201310

From the time of his Jazz Epiphany – upon hearing “jazz guitar pioneer Charlie Christian, and the classic recordings of Billie Holiday and Lester Young” – at the age of 15, outstanding guitarist/vocalist Perry Beekman has committed himself to the classic traditions of jazz, particularly by means of the Great American Songbook.

            For his first CD as a leader, Perry has selected one of the most beloved and prolific of these composers, Cole Porter, for So In Love – Perry Beekman Sings And Plays Cole Porter.  Accompanied by the remarkably empathetic paring of Peter Tomlinson and Lou Pappas on piano and bass respectively, Perry has selected 15 wonderful Porter songs, all but one culled from Broadway musicals made immortal by Porter’s genius.

            In conceiving the CD, Perry considered calling it “A Tale of Two Coles” as he also offers homage to another of his musical heroes, Nat ‘King’ Cole, who revolutionized popular song with his drummerless trio of the same instrumentation.  Appealing to him because “It allows for both a great deal of individual expression, and the ability to create a wonderful group dynamic” Beekman provides full evidence of that instrumentation’s effectiveness with this delightful CD.

            Beekman has taken great care in providing an impressively tasteful approach in both selecting repertoire, as well as creating an ideal balance of deftly arranged and improvised interpretations.  He has also fully respected Porter’s expressed desire – as a rare composer who wrote both the music and lyrics – to stick to the lyrics as they were written.  Nonetheless, Perry’s interpretive imagination breathes special individuality into each of these highly regarded classics.

            In true jazz fashion, the interplay of the trio is magical – fully supporting Perry’s vocals while maintaining a deep sense of swing and total spontaneity.  The musicianship is exemplary, but never allows its virtuosity to interfere with the goal of presenting great songs in a highly compelling manner.  Unquestionably, the focus is upon the splendid vocals and guitar mastery of Perry Beekman.  His rich voice and impeccable phrasing blend perfectly with his striking guitar playing, evoking the rhythmic clarity of Barney Kessel, the single line improvisational sparkle of Johnny Smith and the soulfulness of Grant Green – all among his influences.  Short solos permeate most of the vocal-oriented works; each one ideally suited to the structure of each piece and without a wasted note or missed opportunity for expressiveness.

           There are two instrumentals.  Always True To You In My Fashion (from 1948’s Kiss Me Kate) is a vividly surging foray that gives everybody a chance to stretch a bit, while My Heart Belongs To Daddy (from Leave It To Me, 1938), is in delightful jump style stoked by vibrant walking bass.  Another piece – the gorgeous In The Still Of The Night (Rosalie, 1937) – begins as an instrumental, with Perry’s solo exploration in an almost Baroque, fugue -like fashion melding into a beautiful vocal plea.  An evocative tour de force.

            Another song from Kiss Me Kate is So In Love, a sinuously gentle ballad in a samba style with nearly telepathic interplay by the trio.  Perry’s love of Brazilian music is also in evidence in two of Porter’s most popular songs.  I Get a Kick Out Of You (Anything Goes, 1934) features a deliberate, moody vocal that lingers in tantalizing fashion just behind the gentle Bossa Nova beat; while Night And Day (Gay Divorce, 1932) strikes a somewhat bouncier mood, along with a delicious arco bass solo and rich piano flourishes.  It’s unlikely that Cole Porter was thinking in a Brazilian mode when he wrote these two songs, but he most certainly would approve.

            Swing of a more traditional jazz style is up front on Just One Of Those Things (Jubilee, 1935), an irresistibly joyful, full-throttle swinger.  Likewise, I Love Paris (Can Can, 1953), a deeply grooved easy swinger with Perry’s vocal swirling in, around, and under the insistent rhythmic thrust.   Anything Goes is a jaunty swinger marked by a vibrant, beautifully constructed guitar solo.  Let’s Misbehave (Paris, 1928) is playful, bouncy and teasingly appropriate for the subject matter of the lyrics.  Infectious ascending chord patterns provide the setting for the nicely syncopated romp, It’s De-Lovely (Red Hot And Blue, 1936) with a beautifully integrated guitar/bass, guitar/piano, and piano/bass soli section.  All five of these pieces open with a vocal intro in rubato time, providing terrific launching pads for the solid swing to follow. 

           A couple of unusual rhythmic structures are used as well.  Let’s Do It (also from Paris) is in a relaxed march groove, built on propulsive chords.  The anthem-ish I Happen To Like New York (The New Yorkers, 1930) is a dramatic rendition stoked by stark piano chord clusters and dark bass.  The only song not from a Broadway show – Miss Otis Regrets – is a deeply touching ballad, featuring a most interesting contrast of cascading guitar lines and a doo-wop piano style. 

           This brilliant album concludes with the third item from Anything Goes, You’re The Top, with a celebratory arrangement that ends the proceedings on a most upbeat note

           After performing in prominent venues and halls in and around New York City for the past 25 years, this long overdue album is a milestone in Perry Beekman’s long and accomplished career.
Artist Website: www.perrybeekman.com

From: Jazz Promo Services
Press Contact: Jim Eigo, jim@jazzpromoservices.com
www.jazzpromoservices.com

Perry Beekman is a guitarist & vocalist....

Perry Beekman is a guitarist & vocalist deeply rooted in the classic tradition of jazz.  His swinging, melodic guitar playing beautifully complements his rich, easy-going vocals. Featuring tunes from the Great American Songbook as well as bossa nova favorites, his music is sophisticated, exciting, and fun. Perry is available in ensembles ranging from duo to quartet.

Now based in Woodstock, NY, Perry has been playing in jazz clubs, and at private and corporate events throughout New York City for the past 25 years. He has performed at such prominent venues as the Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel, The JVC Jazz Festival, and the Maverick Concert Hall.


“Beekman is an engaging singer, and a terrific guitarist.  His partners in music are perfectly simpatico with his approach to the material.  This combination of jazz and the sophisticated songs of Cole Porter will lift your spirits and keep a smile on your face.” - Review by Joe Lang - (Jersey Jazz)

“Making old school new cool is a walk in the park for Beekman who is indeed real deal talent…” - Review by Brent Black (CriticalJazz.com)

“This jazz guitarist takes a delightful meander through territory that’s not quite jazz, not quite cabaret but enough of both to please either audience. Standards taken off the beaten path, what a concept.  Give it a spin when the need for sophistication is in the air.” - Review by Chris Spector (Editor and Publisher, MidWest Record)