John Beasley: From Invisible Piano to Unlimited Miles
With a new album dropping on May 8 and an all-star Miles Davis centennial concert scheduled for May 14 at the Presidio Theatre, pianist, composer, and arranger John Beasley balances inward reflection with large-scale tribute while keeping the piano at the heart of both projects.
John Beasley. Photo: Lena Semmelroggen
Listen to the full conversation with John Beasley below.
A Record Built From First Instincts
John Beasley’s new album, Invisible Piano, did not start at the keyboard. He described himself at the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, singing musical ideas into his phone while observing sculpture and paintings, then taking those snippets home to transcribe, shape, and rehearse on the piano. The important part was trusting those initial ideas. “I’m finally reaching a point where I’m not overthinking so much,” he said, “and trusting what’s really deep inside.” That change in approach is central to the new release, recorded with Germany’s SWR Big Band, and composed of five original pieces and two arrangements.
For Beasley, singing ideas first mattered because it bypassed habit. “The thing about singing is that it’s direct,” he said. “There’s no muscle memory.” He wanted to go beyond what his hands already knew on the piano and get closer to what he actually heard inside. That kind of listening, he suggested, is part of developing a genuine musical identity. “That’s why we love John Coltrane. That’s why we love Miles,” he said. “They are unique to themselves.”
The album’s title track drew inspiration from Max Ernst’s painting Invisible Piano, which Beasley described as an image of a woman emerging from stone, caught between struggle and flight. He interprets the music similarly, as “tension and release,” symbolizing a breakthrough following a creative plateau. The album also features a deeply personal rendition of James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” a song Beasley remembers hearing as a child and carrying with him for decades. He said it “always haunted me in a good way.” He was drawn to its quiet, reflective mood long before he had the words to describe what he was hearing.
Keeping Miles in Motion
If Invisible Piano turns inward, the next project opens outward. On May 14, Beasley presents Unlimited Miles: Miles Davis at 100 at the Presidio Theatre, an all-star centennial celebration centered around Davis’s restless musical imagination. Beasley’s goal was clear from the start: “Keep what Miles had in mind when he hired musicians.” That meant assembling players with unique voices, people Miles “would’ve dug,” in Beasley’s words, and finding a way to navigate Davis’s many eras without turning the concert into a chronological lesson.
Beasley said the band has been blending periods rather than sequencing them. In one section, the music moves from “Moon Dreams” to “Sanctuary” to “Fat Time,” connecting 1949, 1969, and 1980 in one flowing arc. Elsewhere, the program combines pieces like Scrapple from the Apple, Milestones, and Paraphernalia, along with music from Miles Smiles. There will also be selections from the period Beasley experienced firsthand when he played with Davis in 1989, including material from Amandla and Tutu. The idea is to let listeners hear how naturally these shifts can coexist when the band understands Davis’s appetite for risk.
The lineup reflects that approach: guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, trumpeter Sean Jones, drummer Terreon Gully, and bassist Ben Williams. Together, they give Beasley a group capable of spanning decades of repertoire while keeping the music vivid and present-tense.
A New World for an Evening
Beasley said he hopes audiences leave the Presidio with “a little sense of peace and thoughtfulness,” having stepped for a while into “a new world.” That aspiration suits both projects. Invisible Piano listens inward for the first spark of an idea. Unlimited Miles turns outward and asks what it means to honor a musician who kept changing how people heard sound, structure, and improvisation.
If You Go
Show Information: Unlimited Miles: Miles Davis at 100 All-Star Jazz Centennial Celebration takes place Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco.
Tickets: Presidio Theatre
The Presidio Theatre is located in the Presidio of San Francisco at 99 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94129.
