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.

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.

It's hard to get into Newsweek because, as more of our former intellectual magazines take on a pop focus, if there's no buzz, there's no interest.

If you listen to a lot of the songs that are popular now, there's very little melody in there. People love the beat. But to musicians, it's melody, because we understand how elusive it is and how hard it is to hold.

If I were like a lot of other people, then it wouldn't be fun; but since I'm like me, it's okay.

A lot of musicians have a tough time hearing what we're doing in a trio format.