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Dan
Beckett’s style is not easily categorized into a single
genre. The best description might be: Classical technique
with Jazz voicings set to Pop-Rock forms.
If you happened to leave a few CDs on the dashboard of your car on a
hot summer day…a selection from Chopin, a disc from Acoustic
Alchemy, an instrumental piece from Elton John…if those
discs
melted together, you’d begin to get an idea of what
Beckett’s music is like.
Dan composing at his piano in Plymouth MI
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For some,
the hopeful
melancholy piano compositions suggest David Lanz or Yanni, although the
infusion of Gospel and Jazz voicings discourages direct comparison to
New Age artists. For others, the intense emotive style of play evokes
the classical influence of Chopin, while modern Pop-Rock forms keep the
music accessible and unpretentious. Regardless of perceived influences,
many have commented that Beckett’s music is quite simply
peaceful
and relaxing. When you hear it, one thing is certain: you are listening
to a man who is passionate about making music on acoustic piano.
In 2007, Beckett released a self-published CD entitled
“Simply
Christmas” that captures his arrangements of favorite
Christmas
carols and standards. It highlights Beckett’s characteristic
piano stylings accompanied by a handful of Detroit-area vocalists and
instrumentalists. “Simply Christmas” was the follow
up to a
limited-release self-published CD entitled
“Simplicitude”,
the first in a planned series of recordings featuring original
compositions and performances for acoustic piano.
“Simplicitude” is currently being remastered and is
scheduled for a broader release in mid-2008. Four previously unreleased
projects (“Antememoria”,
“Audiolusion”,
“withinsideout”, and
“Acoustiphoria”) will
follow, cataloguing the complete body of Beckett’s solo piano
compositions to date. |
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Beckett has a long history of
composing,
arranging, performing and producing for aspiring singer/songwriters,
including Men of Grace, Emily Danielson, Calvin Thompson and Jim
Barber. He produced three full length recordings while a member of
Detroit-area Christian rock bands Times 7 and Rhev21, opening for
national recording artists such as Small Town Poets, Geoff Moore, The
Sparks, Russ Taff, and others. He is also active in his community,
providing Music Therapy outreaches to various health care systems,
performing benefit concerts and donation campaigns for Cancer
Awareness, serving on the inaugural Canton Arts Commission in 2005, and
producing recordings for the Plymouth Canton Educational Park music
program.
Beckett resides in Plymouth MI, about halfway between Ann Arbor and
Detroit. He currently serves as the pianist and band coordinator for
Woodlawn Church, a non-denominational interfaith church in Royal Oak MI
featuring contemporary worship music. In addition to hammering away on
acoustic piano, he also has been known to lay down the occasional
Hammond B3 organ riff, as well as wailing sax leads. A self-taught
musician, Beckett has a degree in English from Oakland University, and
works vocationally as an Information Security specialist. |
