Paul Beaudry & Pathways is a New York City-based quartet deeply rooted in the jazz and blues traditions. Founded in 2008, their repertoire balances the band members’ original compositions and arrangements with selected standards from jazz’s broad stylistic range. Their music is captivating and engaging, featuring exciting rhythms and swinging, soul-stirring melodies. Paul Beaudry & Pathways are influenced by each musician’s distinctive backgrounds, personal experiences, as well as the inspiring musicianship of Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, and Sam Jones, among others. Rousing scat singing, fiery instrumental improvisations and lively vocal exchanges are par for the course at the group’s dynamic performances.
Paul Beaudry & Pathways released their self-titled debut CD in 2010 and several months later embarked on a one-month Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Central American tour. The tour was sponsored by Jazz At Lincoln Center and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. They spent four weeks on the road as jazz ambassadors, traveling to Trinidad, Suriname, Nicaragua, and Honduras doing concerts and workshops for attendees of all ages. The group was chosen again in 2011 for a South and Central Asia tour and they traveled to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh and India. Their second CD, Americas, was released in May of 2012 and features their arrangements of folk songs from the Caribbean and South and Central America.
“We’re putting the fun back into jazz, yet keeping the art form at a high level and still touching people,” says Beaudry. “Rhythm and melody is still at the heart of this music and I’d like to bring that back to the forefront.” Expanding the traditions of Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, the group’s mission is to share their spirit and music with audiences worldwide in the form of stunning and memorable performances. “My concept was to put together an ensemble deeply rooted in the blues yet can go in any number of musical directions as these musical forefathers have done to a legendary degree. My intention is to create music of the highest artistic quality that is exciting, emotionally engaging, fun, and prompts repeated listenings – I believe we achieve that.”
