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Andy Bey

 
Artist: Andy Bey
 
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Andy Bey

Similar Artists:

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Abbey Lincoln, Cassandra Wilson, Shirley Horn

Performed Songs By:

Billy Strayhorn, Bill Fischer, Duke Ellington

Worked With:

Mickey Roker, Bob Cranshaw

Formal Connection With:

Horace Silver, Max Roach, Duke Pearson, Gary Bartz
  • Born: 1939, Newark, NJ
  • Active: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Instrument: Vocals, Piano
  • Representative Albums: "Shades of Bey," "Experience and Judgment," "Ballads, Blues & Bey"

Biography

One of the great unsung heroes of jazz singing, Andy Bey is a commanding interpreter of lyrics who has a wide vocal range and a big, rich, full voice. Bey enjoys a small following that swears by him; nonetheless, he isn't nearly as well known as he should be. Born and raised in Newark, NJ, not far from New York, Bey was exposed to jazz as a child and started singing in front of local audiences as early as eight. At some gigs, an eight-year-old Bey was accompanied by tenor sax great Hank Mobley. Bey was 13 when, in 1952, he recorded his first solo album, Mama's Little Boy's Got the Blues; and he was 17 when he formed Andy & the Bey Sisters with his siblings Salome and Geraldine in 1956. The group did a 16-month tour of Europe and recorded three albums (one for RCA Victor in 1961, two for Prestige in 1964 and 1965) before breaking up in 1967. In the 1960s and 1970s, Bey's vocals were featured by Max Roach, Duke Pearson, and Gary Bartz (for whom he delivered very socio-political lyrics, including some searing condemnations of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War). The 1970s also found Bey recording Experience and Judgment for Atlantic and beginning a long association with pianist Horace Silver, who featured him prominently on many of the religious-themed albums he put out own his own Silveto label in the 1970s and 1980s. The LPs contained what Silver termed "metaphysical self-help music" and preached a sort of religious self-help philosophy that wasn't unlike Reverend Ike's message -- unfortunately for Silver and Bey, this approach meant limited distribution and little commercial appeal. Bey continued to work with Silver into the 1990s, when he was featured on Silver's 1993 Columbia date It's Got to Be Funky (which marked a return to hard bop's mainstream and did much better commercially than his "self-help music"). Labels Bey recorded for as a leader in the 1980s and 1990s included Jazzette, Zagreb, and Evidence, which, in 1996, released the superb Ballads, Blues and Bey. The success of Blues, Ballads and Bey set-up a position for the pianist to stretch out a little and explore his more intimate side. Bey followed with Shades of Bey in 1998 and Tuesdays in Chinatown in 2001, choosing to explore outside the world of jazz with covers of Nick Drake and Milton Nascimento and others. American Song followed in early 2004. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Andy Bey
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Andy Bey

Background information
Birth name Andrew W. Bey
Born October 28, 1939 (1939-10-28) (age 69)
Newark, New Jersey, United States
Genre(s) Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s) Piano, Vocals
Associated acts Louis Jordan

Andrew W. Bey (born October 28, 1939 in Newark, New Jersey) is a jazz singer and pianist. He worked on a television show, Startime, with Connie Francis and sang for Louis Jordan.He went on to form a trio with sisters Salome Bey and Geraldine Bey (de Haas) called "Andy and The Bey Sisters". They recorded various sides and had 2 albums on Prestige and 1 on RCA. The group parted in 1965. He also did notable work with Horace Silver and Gary Bartz. Later he had an album named Experience And Judgment, which had Indian influences. [1] After that period he returned to hard bop and also did covers of music by non-jazz musicians like Nick Drake[2]. Other albums: Andy Bey and The Bey Sisters, Ballads, Blues & Bey, American Song (2004), Tuesdays In Chinatown, Ain't Necessarily So (2007).

In 1994, openly gay, Bey was diagnosed HIV-positive, but it never stopped him from achieving his musical heights. Colleague Herb Jordan assisted Bey in a revived resurgence in his recording career. Their recording "Ballads, Blues, & Bey" in 1996 put Andy Bey back on top. Albums that followed, like "Shades of Bey" (1998), were a bigger success.[citation needed] Bey constantly explores his art, and still tours, and his unique sound and style is still in high demand. Bey was recently quoted in an interview, "Did you know that gratefulness helps get rid of fear? ...I'm so grateful to be able to do what I love, to have a purpose in life."[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Down Beat Artists Profile
  2. ^ All Music


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