Beat (pronounced bay-at) Kaestli is a Swiss singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer.

Music career

After receiving a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music in 1993, he moved from his native Switzerland to New York City. He supported himself as a session singer, backing Barbara Tucker and

Inaya Day Inaya Day (born Inaya Davis, January 17, 1977) is an American singer, best known for her vocal work on house music tracks such as "Horny '98" by Mousse T, and her cover version of " Nasty Girl" by Prince protégées Vanity 6. Biography Early ca ...

, and working with

Linda Hopkins Linda Hopkins (December 14, 1924 – April 10, 2017) was a Tony-winning American actress and blues and gospel singer. She recorded classic, traditional, and urban blues, and performed R&B and soul, jazz, and show tunes. Biography Born Me ...

on the world tour of the Harlem Gospel Show. His debut album was ''Reasons'' (2002), a collection of R&B-infused, pop-jazz originals that led to comparisons to such disparate headliners as George Michael and Maxwell. He has worked with

Jane Monheit Jane Monheit (born November 3, 1977"Jane Monheit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 33. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2001. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-05-07.) is an American jazz and pop singer. Early life Monheit was bo ...

, Stefon Harris, and

Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to: * Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster * Jason Moran (musician) Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...

and has appeared at Birdland, The Jazz Standard, B.B. King's, 55 Bar, and

The Blue Note ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. In 2005, Beat was the chosen vocalist for the Glenn Miller Orchestra. In 2006, Beat's second album ''Happy, Sad, and Satisfied'' was released. ''Happy, Sad, and Satisfied'' garnered positive reviews and was named one of the top 25 CDs of 2006 by ''Indie Music'' magazine. Kaestli returned to the classroom in 2007 when the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation scholarship from the Society of Singers provided him the opportunity to earn a master's degree from the

Aaron Copland School of Music The Aaron Copland School of Music is one of the oldest departments at Queens College, founded when the College opened in 1937. The department's curriculum was originally established by Edwin Stringham, and a later emphasis on the analytical sy ...

. On 2009's multilingual ''Far from Home'', Kaestli paid tribute to European songwriters such as

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

and Kurt Weill and included original collaborations with contemporary European composers, like Misha Piatigorsky and Tino Derado. ''Far from Home'' also garnered many positive reviews, prompting

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...

to praise Kaestli as "soulful ndsensitive." In 2010, Kaestli moved to the jazz label

Chesky Records Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Che ...

for his album, ''Invitation''. The album was his return to the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" i ...

. Supported by bassist

Jay Leonhart Jay Leonhart (born December 6, 1940) is a double bassist, singer, and songwriter who has worked in jazz and popular music. He has performed with Judy Garland, Bucky Pizzarelli, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Sting. Leonhart is noted for his cle ...

, drummer

Billy Drummond Willis Robert "Billy" Drummond Jr. (born June 19, 1959) is an American jazz drummer. Early life Billy Drummond was born in Newport News, Virginia, where he grew up listening to the extensive jazz record collection of his father, an amateur dr ...

, saxophonist Joel Frahm, trumpeter Kenny Rampton, and guitarist Paul Meyers. ''Invitation'' is Kaestli's best received album so far. ''Invitation'' was recorded at historic St. Peter's Church in

Chelsea, Manhattan Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River and West Street to the west, and Sixth Avenue to the east, with its northe ...

. Instead of close miking all the instruments, Chesky used one microphone to hear the 360-degree acoustic space of St. Peter's Church. This album has been praised for its sound quality by ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

''.

Discography

* 2002 ''Reasons'' * 2005 ''Happy, Sad, and Satisfied'' * 2009 ''Far from Home'' * 2010 ''Invitation'' ( Chesky)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaestli, Beat Living people Swiss jazz singers Chesky Records artists Year of birth missing (living people)