Born into a musical family in New Orleans, Louisiana, Kenyatta Beasley first picked up the trumpet at the age of 3, under the tutelage of his father Charles. At the age of 10, Kenyatta was selected out of 2,000 children to portray young Louis Armstrong in the touring musical, Satchmo: America’s Musical Legend.
In 1991, Kenyatta enrolled in the prestigious New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (N.O.C.C.A.). N.O.C.C.A’s alumni makes up some of the top names in American music today including Wynton Marsalis, Brandford Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., and Terence Blanchard. During his tenure at N.O.C.C.A., Kenyatta won such prestigious awards as the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) Arts Recognition and Talent Search, the International Association of Jazz Educators Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship, and the N.A.A.C.P ACT-SO award for Jazz Performance.
After moving to New York City in 1995, Kenyatta enrolled in the Jazz and Contemporary music program at Mannes School of Music where he received his B.A in Jazz Composition and Performance.
In 1997, Kenyatta was one of 10 finalists chosen to compete in the illustrious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition.
Kenyatta has performed and recorded with the a wide array of artists that ranging from Shakira, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ellis Marsalis, Roy Ayers, Duke Ellington Big Band,, The Lionel Hampton Orchestra, The Count Basie Orchestra, Gladys Knight, Carlos Santana, Lauryn Hill, Gloria Gaynor, Ben Harper, Wu Tang Clan, Fantasia, Roy Hargrove, Frank Foster, Chaka Kahn, P. Diddy, Usher, Mary J Blige and has been the featured trumpeter with Saturday Night Live Band on NBC’s "Saturday Night Live".
In 2002, Kenyatta released his first solo recording; Brooklyn Mardi Gras as a leader on the Japanese label What’s New Records.
In 2003, Kenyatta began to diversify his artistic talents by enrolling in New York University’s Music Composition/Film Scoring program where he currently a Master’s of Arts candidate.
Kenyatta’s professional experiences as a musician have helped to shape his diverse composition style that has made him a favorite of the Independent film community. To date, he has a scored a number of independent short films and received the honor of Best Original Score at the New York University/New York Magazine’s 2005 First Run Film Festival for the short film "Earnie". Kenyatta has also won Best Original Score at the 2007 Brooklyn Arts Council (B.A.C) film festival for the short film "Heroes Wanted".Kenyatta has also worked with under Quincy Jones contributing to the underscore for "Get Rich Or Die Trying". (2006) He's also been recently named as composer for his first two feature films, "Church and State" and "Three Can Play That Game" starring Vivica Fox. (2007)
