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- Artist: Andy and the Bey Sisters
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1965
- Genre: Jazz
Review
Criminally unsung pianist and singer Andy Bey had the most visible career after he and his sisters Salome and Geraldine Bey broke up their performing trio after an 11-year run in 1967, but this family singing ensemble was far more than just the act that launched Andy, and he wasn't really the focus of the group. All three siblings were highlighted equally in the trio, and their harmonies together were the ethereal kind that can only happen in a family where all involved have grown up hearing each other's voices and phrasing every single day. The Bey trio recorded very little together, unfortunately, just a single album for RCA in 1961 and two albums for Prestige, Now! Hear!, released in 1964, and this one, 'Round Midnight, from 1965. Part gospel, part muted R&B, part stylized blues, the Bey trio was also very much a jazz outfit, due in no small part to Andy's underappreciated piano playing and the presence of bop veterans like Milt Hinton on bass, Osie Johnson on drums, and Kenny Burrell (who appears on about half of the tracks here) on guitar. In essence, the Bey trio sounded like a thinned-out and more jazzy, gauzy version of the Staple Singers. Highlights from this reissue, which is quite short (only around 33 minutes) by modern CD standards, are a wonderfully balanced version of Ray Charles' "Hallelujah, I Love Her So," a stirring take on Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child," the ever expanding and ascending "Feeling Good," and a fine rendition of the title track, Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight," which has never been the easiest song in the world to sing effectively, but the trio nails it here in what might have been deemed a definitive version if it had actually been heard by more than a handful of people. Prestige released Andy Bey & the Bey Sisters in 2000, which includes both the trio's albums for the label on one disc, and that is definitely the way to go, although this short set does do a decent job showing off the range and talents of this unusual and intriguing group. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Love Medley: Love Is Just Around the Corner/I Love You/Love You Madly | Duke Ellington | (6:21) | |
| God Bless the Child | (3:39) | ||
| Squeeze Me | Fats Waller, Clarence Williams | (3:42) | |
| Tammy | (2:16) | ||
| Hallelujah, I Love Her So | (2:26) | ||
| Everybody Loves My Baby | Spencer Williams | (2:42) | |
| 'Round Midnight | Cootie Williams, Thelonious Monk, Bernie Hanighen | (3:30) | |
| Solitude | Irving Mills, Eddie DeLange, Duke Ellington | (2:50) | |
| Feeling Good | Leslie Bricusse | (2:59) | |
| Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye | Cole Porter | (3:03) |
