For Your Grammy Consideration: Needham Musician Remembered

October 21, 2024
• A young artist’s music plays on.

Jordan Bearak’s loved ones remember him for his sincerity, kindness and natural musical ability. His poignant songwriting and genre-blending sound have reached more ears in his absence, including those at the Recording Academy.

Bearak — whose artist name is Jordan Brooks — is now up for consideration for two Grammy Award nominations, thanks to a former voice teacher at Needham’s Plugged In Band Program.

When Marco Perfetti first heard Jordan perform back around 2016, he knew the teenager had a gift. During their first class together, Perfetti recorded a voice memo of Jordan’s voice to send to other artists.

Now, Perfetti leveraged his membership in the Recording Academy to pay homage to a student-turned-performer from whom he draws his own inspiration. By submitting Jordan’s music for consideration, Perfetti said he hopes he’s “bringing him a little closer to one of his dreams.”

“A lot of people can sing, people can carry a tune, but not everybody can be an artist,” Perfetti said. “And [Jordan] had that spark.”

Jordan is among a number of artists up for two potential Grammy nominations: Best Pop Performance for his song, “Will You Be There?” and Best Pop Album for “Shadows and Reflections.”

The recognition comes after Jordan’s friends finished production on that very album, releasing its eight tracks in August. Jordan passed away in January 2023 at 23 years old.

While the odds for a Grammy nod may not be in his son’s favor — with artists such as Taylor Swift likely on the short list — Arnie Bearak said his dream of honoring Jordan on the world’s stage has been met.

During a release party for the album, Arnie Bearak said he hoped to accept a Grammy on Jordan’s behalf, which prompted Perfetti to share Jordan’s music with the close to 4,000 people that compose the Recording Academy.

Even if just a fraction of those members discover Jordan Brooks, Bearak considers it a win.

“I got this joyous moment,” Arnie Bearak said. “And that’s a pretty lofty goal for a father to have when his son, when his child passes. I made it.”

Jordan’s passion for music led him to Plugged In, where he honed his craft. Perfetti, who makes music under the name Perfect Mark, remembers instructing Jordan to write his first song. When Jordan returned with a rough draft a week later, he was blown away.

“Nobody is that good the very first time they write a song… It was beautiful already,” Perfetti said of the song. “I feel like my biggest pride is that, after that, he started writing and writing and writing, and it was so prolific, and he started enjoying it.”

As a young teenager, Jordan performed a series of open mics, often accompanied by his loop pedal, allowing him to live record a layered audio during his performances. Ed Sheeran, a prolific singer-songwriter Jordan deeply admired, incorporated the loop pedal in his own performances. The first song Jordan learned to play was Sheeran’s “Lego House.”

Plugged In, a fully inclusive after-school music program, teaches local students about music while also doing good within the community. When Jordan first joined, he understood the program’s mission of using music for positive change, Co-founder and Executive Director Sandra Rizkallah said.

“I think that it’s a testament to who Jordan was, that there is this whole community working on his music and promoting it, even with him not here,” Rizkallah said. “I think it’s a testament to how he touched other people’s lives.”

After Jordan’s passing, the Bearaks donated some of his musical equipment to Plugged In, and the program received $21,000 in donations in Jordan’s memory, Arnie Bearak said. Bearak encourages others to continue supporting the organization.

Apart from Sheeran, Jordan drew inspiration from rapper The Kid LAROI, alt-pop musician James Bay and cross-genre artist Post Malone, whose poster still hangs in his Needham bedroom. Jordan lived in Needham his whole life.

At their home recording studio is where he unleashed much of his artistry, his father said.

“He’d be in there in the middle of the night singing or in the basement at 3 o’clock in the morning with the amps tuned up to the loudest, which we allowed because he was being creative,” Bearak said. “He just kept on teaching himself, and it was his life.”

Dan Croft, associate director of Plugged In, remembers Jordan’s transformation from a shy kid to a self-assured musician. From the start, Jordan “had so much music in him,” Croft said.

“He was definitely interested in guitar, but when he transitioned to focusing mainly on his voice lessons, it seemed he came out of his shell,” Croft said. “Suddenly being able to put his thoughts and ideas and the songs that he was creating out into the world in his own voice in a way that he was proud of and confident of was really incredible to see.”

Jordan’s music, at times, reflected the inner turmoil he experienced. On “Prayers,” a 2021 single included on the album, Jordan reflects on that pain, relying on his faith for support.

I look up at the stars to understand why
Life isn’t fair but people seem to make by
Been hurting deep inside
Praying god will heal my heart

His music helped him articulate some of those difficult thoughts, but also his desire to try to find a way through it all, said Luke Concannon, an English singer-songwriter who mentored Jordan for years.

“He could write powerful, beautiful melodies,” Concannon said, “and then just really express some of his dread about how much he was suffering and express it in a sense of his heart crying out.”

In those tumultuous moments, music became Jordan’s outlet. It’s how his friends and family keep his legacy alive.

With voting now closed, official Grammy nominations will likely be released Nov. 8.

While he’s pleased with the honor, Perfetti said he wishes one special person could witness it.

“My first thought was, ‘I wish Jordan was here to see this,’” Perfetti said.