Maxton G. Beesley Jr. is an English actor and musician who is known for his roles on the TV shows The History Of Tom Jones, A Foundling, Bodies and Hotel Babylon. Before he was an actor he was singularly focused on music playing with The Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, George Michael, George Benson, Chaka Khan and Paul Weller. A multi-instrumentalist he plays percussion, piano and vibraphone. He met Omar Lye Fook who is considered the king of British soul when they both studied at the Guildhall Schoool Of Music And Drama. “Painful Truths” comes from the acid jazz compilation The Soul Of Boogie Back on Instinct Records back in 1994. Beesley plays all the percussion on the song while Omar’s vocals are featured in what most called acid jazz at the time and today would be considered “neo soul” a label Omar ignores. These days Beesley works more as an actor with a current role on Hotel Babylon and Omar made his debut as an actor this year in the musical Been So Long while soul fans wait for the follow-up to 2006’s Sing.
