James Arthur Beard was an American jazz pianist and keyboardist, composer, arranger and producer who worked with Steely Dan, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Dennis Chambers, and Bob Berg, among others. First performing professionally in college alongside a bar band, Beard then became the pianist of McLaughlin's band, Mahavishnu, after moving to New York in 1985. He also produced seven albums from 1990 through 2019, and wrote several compositions for jazz artists.