John Beasley - “Positootly” (Resonance Records)

(Press Release) Veteran pianist-composer-arranger John Beasley gained invaluable bandstand experience on the road with such revered jazz elders as Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis while also recording with the likes of Chick Corea and Hubert Laws along with serving as musical director for Queen Latifah and Steely Dan. In recent years, Beasley has made impressive strides as a band leader in his own right.

“Positootly” opens with Beasley’s driving, hard boppish “Caddo Bayou” and energized quintet number named for he marshy body of water where he played as a child. The title track, a buoyantly swinging, highly interactive trio number, features some of Beasley’s most lyrical and uplifting piano playing on the album.

The collection closes on an introspective note with the solo piano piece, “Hope...Arkansas,” Beasley’s personal reflection on the election of President Barack Obama.

“This song is about what we’ve been through as a nation - reaching across the aisles - and the hope that we must carry to move forward,” Beasley said from a press release.

That rich expression, which taps into Beasley’s own past while projecting an optimistic future, culminates what is easily his most potent and personal recording to date.