JIM BEARD, 1960-2024

Longtime Steely Dan keyboardist Jim Beard died on 3/2 in New York. The veteran jazz musician, who was 63, succumbed to a sudden illness.

Beard joined Steely Dan in 2008 and performed with the group as recently as 1/20 as part of its opening sets on the Eagles' Long Goodbye Tour.

Born Aug. 26, 1960, in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, he studied jazz at Indiana University with legendary instructor David Baker and moved to New York to pursue his professional career in 1985.

Beard went on to tour with John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, befriend and collaborate with Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter and Michael Brecker and record with Steve Vai, Al Jarreau, David Sanborn and Béla Fleck, among many others. He shared in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Grammy for his work on Randy and Michael Brecker's 2005 release, Some Skunk Funk.

His solo albums spanned 1990's Song of the Sun and 2013's Show of Hands.

Off the stage, Beard taught arranging, composition and improvisation at Berklee College of Music, the Aaron Copland School of Music and Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts.

He is survived by a son and daughter, a brother and sister and his mother, Sarah.