I'm not going to play funk licks on a jazz album. That makes no sense.

Pop doesn't really look back. It can't. What makes pop work is simplicity.

My dad was a musician, it was just what he did, like another guy's dad drives a meat truck. Our house was normal. We weren't taken with the fact our dad was a musician.

Everybody talks about finding your voice. Do your homework and your voice will find you.

Jazz is so incestuous that it's starting to kill itself.

Walter Beasley is an anomaly: a successful performing musician who possesses the rare skill of understanding the musical process beyond the intuitive. This special ability enables Walter to communicate with aspiring musicians in a way that removes the sense of mystery that sometimes enshrouds our profession.

My job is to write songs that have emotional meaning to me.