Roscoe Beck - Bio

Roscoe Beck has been a mainstay on the Los Angeles and Austin, Texas music scenes for many years. Originally from Poughkeepsie, New York, Roscoe moved to Texas in his teens and was soon integrated into the thriving blues and jazz communities in Austin. Relocating to Los Angeles in 1979, he recorded with Leonard Cohen, Robben Ford, Jennifer Warnes, and others. The Cohen/Warnes/Beck partnership culminated in Warnes' classic 1986 recording Famous Blue Raincoat/The Songs of Leonard Cohen (produced by Roscoe Beck and Jennifer Warnes) an album which sold over a million copies and made the Ten Best lists of both the New York Times and LA Times. He's played on and/or co-produced five Cohen discs to date.

The Texas connection continued throughout the L.A. years and Roscoe returned often to Austin, recording several CDs with Texas guitar favorite Eric Johnson. He also appeared with Eric on the 1997 G3 tour, CD and DVD (with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.)

Roscoe is a founding member of Robben Ford and the Blue Line, playing on and/or co-producing their five discs to date. Roscoe's most recent release with Robben Ford is Robben's debut recording for Concord Records, Blue Moon.

Roscoe has made three instructional videos for REH/Warner Brothers Publications: Blues Foundations and Beginning Blues Bass, Volumes 1 & 2, and has been a regular contributor to Bass Player magazine with a bi-monthly column, Mastering Five-String Bass.

In 1997, Fender Musical Instruments released the Roscoe Beck Signature Five-String Bass, a popular addition to Fender's line of legendary instruments. The Roscoe Beck Signature Four-String model followed in 2004.

2003 saw Roscoe touring and recording (CD and DVD) with the Dixie Chicks on their Top of the World tour.

Roscoe's 2005 release Walk On features guest artists Eric Johnson, blues legend James Cotton, David Grissom, Kim Wilson, Blue Line pals Robben Ford and Tom Brechtlein with guest vocalists Mike Cross, Malford Milligan, Omar Dykes, Ruthie Foster, and Jacqui Cross.

When not on the road, Roscoe appears most Monday nights at the legendary blues nightclub Antones, continuing that club's tradition with the Blue Monday Band.