Erwin
Maas (see ‘Introducing’) has chosen Andy Bey's album
‘Pages
from
an Imaginary Life’ (High Note, 2014) as our CD
of the month.
He
has this to say : “For jazz lovers, one of the highlights of recent
weeks was definitely the release of John Coltrane's legendary Temple
University concert. 9 months before his
death, an inspired Coltrane throws off all restraints in
his
search for spirituality. No-one has ever blown his last embers
away with such
life. But despite that I still decided to choose singer
Andy Bey's new album
‘Pages  from and Imaginary Life’. Bey has not yet broken through with a wider public during his 60
year career.
When he was 17 he started the trio Andy Bey and the Bey
Sisters with hsi two sisters. He has also recorded with jazz greats
like Horace Silver, Max Roach and Stanley Clarke.
Bey
has created a reputation
as a highly versatile singer, particularly
live. John Coltrane called him his favourite vocalist, and Aretha
Franklin has admitted she loves to attend his concerts after
her own performances.
He hasn't produced many cd's, but since the turn of the century his
has substantially expanded his solo work, the highlght being his
Grammy-nominated ‘The World According to Andy Bey’ from 2013.
On
‘Pages from an Imaginary Life’ Bey remains faithful to his chosen
path of the
last few years. As well as his own songs, we get to hear
intimate, stripped down versions of well-known standards, often played
at very slow tempos. This empha-
sises Bey's deep and flexible baritone
voice and enables him to effortlessly discover new layers in
familiar repertoire.”
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