 “In the history of
jazz vocals, the number of singers that equal Bey's combination of
range, soul, power, and a truly unique style can be counted on one
hand” (Larry Grogan, All About Jazz, March 2004).
Considering that he made his first recording (with sax legend Hank
Mobley) in 1952 when he was only 13, Andy Bey should be among the
most highly visible jazz singers today. With a two-night stand at
the Dakota in Minneapolis (August 24-25) and another at the Triple
Door in Seattle (August 27-28), this celebrated singer/pianist will
at least become better known to two metropolitan audiences.
A child prodigy who appeared at the Apollo Theater and with Louis Jordan (at age12), Sarah Vaughan, and Dinah Washington before he turned 18, Newark native Andy Bey has been performing for over 50 years, mostly under the radar screen. His first regular group was a trio with his two sisters (Andy and the Bey Sisters), with a standing gig at the Blue Note in Paris in the late 50s and early 60s. Back in the U.S., Bey enjoyed frequent appearances with McCoy Tyner, Lonnie Liston Smith, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Max Roach, and Eddie Harris before joining forces with Gary Bartz (the Harlem Bush Music projects) and Horace Silver (The United States of Mind albums and 1993’s It’s Got to be Funky). After teaching voice in Austria for a few years in the early 1990s, Bey scored a “comeback” of sorts with the release of his 1996 recording, Ballads, Blues & Bey, followed in 1998 with the popular Shades of Bey (both on Evidence).
Today, at 65, Bey has a higher profile, in part for speaking out as a gay man who is HIV positive. But largely his increased popularity has been earned by his tremendous talent as one of the “greatest singers of ballads in jazz today” (NPR, February 2004) whose “voice...seems to massage lyrics to a burnished glow with exotic oil" (Newark Star Ledger). Noted Ben Ratliffe in the New York Times, “when he enters a song, he makes it deluxe, decking it out with cushions and tapestries...." Also in the Times, James Gavin noted that “he turns songs into prayer like reveries ... built on sounds woven into hypnotic lines in which the rhythm feels suspended in air.” Bey’s newest release, American Song (2004, Savoy Jazz), has received critical raves.
Said Larry Grogan (All About Jazz, March 2004): “In a world besieged by mediocre singers wrapping themselves in the mantle of jazz, it would truly be a crime if the greatness of Andy Bey were not heard.” Fortunately audiences in Minneapolis and Seattle will have the opportunity to hear Andy Bey in late August.
Show information: In Minneapolis (August 24-25), contact the www.thetripledoor.net or call (206) 838-4333. |
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Friday, 05 December 2008
