Andy Bey
Born in 1939, the Newark (NJ) native was a
genuine child prodigy as a pianist and singer,
garnering appearances at the famed Apollo
Theater and on television’s "Spotlight On Harlem"
and "The Star Time Kids," sharing stages with the
likes of Louis Jordan, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah
Washington, before he turned 18. He then
formed a vocal trio alongside his sisters Salome
and Geraldine and embarked for Europe; Andy
& The Bey Sisters were celebrated regulars at
The Blue Note in Paris and other venues in
Europe from the late 1950s into the early
1960s, when they returned to the U.S. and
continued to perform and record (for RCA
and Prestige) until the trio disbanded in 1966.
For the two decades thereafter, Bey recorded
and performed with such notables as McCoy
Tyner, Lonnie Liston Smith, Thad Jones / Mel
Lewis, Eddie Harris and others. He was
featured vocalist on Gary Bartz’ acclaimed
Harlem Bush Music projects and for an extended
period with Horace Silver, including Silver’s
The United States of Mind album sequence. In
1991, Bey returned to Europe to teach vocal
instruction in Austria; he remained there until
1993, when he returned to the States to record his
"comeback album," accompanied only by his own
piano, called Ballads, Blues & Bey.
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 following that swears by
him; nonetheless, he isn't nearly as well known
as he should be.
The release of Ballads, Blues & Bey in 1996, and
his subsequent Shades of Bey, recorded with Bartz,
Victor Lewis, Peter Washington and other jazz
notables and released in 1998, heralded Bey’s
"renaissance" in the business he’s been in for
nearly five decades. Which leaves Bey somewhat
bemused: "I never went away, actually. I don’t
know about this "renaissance." It’s…well, it’s
new in a sense, but it’s not like I left the
business."