John Beasley
John Rule Beasley (born October 10, 1958), better known as John Beasley, is a jazz pianist, bandleader, and producer of music for film and television.
Also recorded as John Rule Beasley
John Beasley

Jaygilbert22 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- John Beasley
- Birth Name
- John Rule Beasley
- Born
- 10 October 1958
- Birthplace
- Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
- Occupation
- Musician
- Full name
- John Rule Beasley.
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- jazz · jazz-funk · blues · soul · funk · rhythm and blues
- Honours
- Grammy Award for Best Arrangement and Instrumental or A Cappella
- Languages
- American English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
John Rule Beasley (born October 10, 1958), better known as John Beasley, is a jazz pianist, bandleader, and producer of music for film and television.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for John Beasley. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
identity unresolved · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q6221256
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — John Beasley • Background — non_vocal_instrumentalist • Birth Name — John Rule Beasley • Born — 10 October 1958 • Birthplace — Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. • Genre — Jazz • Occupation — Musician • Instrument — Piano, keyboards • Years Active — 1980–present • Label — Windham Hill, Resonance, Mack Avenue Records • Associated Acts — Sergio Mendes, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis • Website — JohnBeasleyMusic.com • Landscape — yes John Rule Beasley (born October 10, 1958), better known as John Beasley, is a jazz pianist, bandleader, and producer of music for film and television.
Career
Career
He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and grew up in Texas in a family of musicians. His grandfather, Rule Oliver was a trombonist for 50 years and a junior high school band director in Arkansas. His father, Rule Curtis Beasley, was a music educator who in 1963 won 1st prize in Composition at the Southeastern Composers League in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His mother Lida Beasley was a brass instrumentalist who was a band director and conducted operas and taught music in various public schools and colleges. He approached music at the age of eight by studying piano, but in his teens, he played guitar, drums, saxophone, trumpet and oboe. Returning to piano and jazz, at the age of twenty he performed his first major concert at Carnegie Hall with Hubert Laws, John Patitucci and the drummer Joey Heredia. During the 1970s, he performed jazz and R&B in Los Angeles. He toured with Sergio Mendes, then worked as a studio musician. For several years he was a member of band led by Freddie Hubbard. In 1992 his debut album Cauldron, produced by Walter Becker, was released by Windham Hill.
Soloist
Soloist
• 1992 - Cauldron (Windham Hill, 01934 10134-2) • 1993 - A Change of Heart (Windham Hill, 01934 10145 2) • 2001 - Surfacing (EWE Records, EWCD 2002) • 2005 - One Live Night (John Beasley, 17528–56) • 2008 - Letter to Herbie (Resonance, RCD-1003) • 2009 - Positootly! (Resonance, RCD-1013) • 2016 - John Beasley Presents MONK'estra Vol. 1 (Mack Avenue, MAC1113) • 2017 - John Beasley Presents MONK'estra Vol. 2 (Mack Avenue, MAC1125) • 2020 - MONK'estra Plays John Beasley (Mack Avenue, MAC1172)
Soundtracks
Soundtracks
• 1993 - Mose the Fireman, with Walter Becker and Michael Keaton (Rabbit Ears Productions, 74041-70748-2)
Collaborations
Collaborations
• 2013 - Gianfranco Continenza, Dusting the Time (Videoradio, VRCD 000844) • 2022 - Sofia Hoffmann, Rebirth
Music director, TV shows
Music director, TV shows
• 2005 - American Idol (multi-platinum Carrie Underwood victory in 2005 as associate music director), FOX • 2005 - Carly Simon A Moonlight Serenade aboard Queen Mary, PBS • 2007 - Search for the Next Pussycat Dolls, CW • 2012 - Duets with John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, Robin Thicke, Jennifer Nettles, ABC • 2014 - Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful, NBC • 2014 - Sing Your Face Off, ABC • 2015 - 2016 - American Idol, FOX • 2016 - Jazz at the White House (Emmy nomination for best music direction), ABC • 2017 - International Jazz Day in Cuba, BET
Awards
John Beasley has been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards and won 1. Pianist John Beasley won the 2021 Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella Grammy Award on March 14, 2021, for his arrangement of Donna Lee performed by his big band, MONK'estra, from the album MONK'estra Plays John Beasley, on Mack Avenue Records. He was nominated for a total of four Grammy Awards in 2021.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.John Beasley. Steinway & Sons.
- 2.Yanow, Scott. John Beasley. All Music.
- 3.Banca dati musicale - Musicista: John Beasley. Radio Swiss Jazz.
- 4.Worsley, Jim. John Beasley: Master of All Trades. All About Jazz. April 4, 2019.
- 5.Barker, Brad. John Beasley channels the 'courage' of Thelonious Monk. Jazz.FM91. 8 September 2020.
- 6.Morrison, Allen. John Beasley Reflects on Miles, Herbie, and (of Course) Monk. JazzTimes. January 4, 2021.
- 7.Artist Biography by Scott Yanow. All music.
- 8.John Beasley. Challenge Records International.
- 9.John Beasley. All About Jazz.
- 10.John Beasley. Recording Academy Grammy Awards. 22 April 2021.
- 11.Pianist John Beasley wins Grammy Award for "Donna Lee" from Mack Avenue album "MONK'estra plays John Beasley". DL media music. 15 March 2021.
- 12.Roberts, Randall. On Sunday, a local jazz polymath could have a Grammys for the ages. Los Angeles Times. March 9, 2021.
- 13.Harter, Clara. Samohi grad John Beasley receives four Grammy nominations. Santa Monica Daily Press. December 14, 2020.
- 14.Grammys 2021: Complete list of winners and nominees. CBS News. 15 March 2021.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 31 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,307 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- John BarnettPerson
- John BarryPerson
- John BastonPerson
- John BealPerson
- John BeckwithPerson
- John BelushiPerson
- John BenitezPerson
- John BennetPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by John Beasley?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.