Stanley Clarke - Children of Forever

Styles: Jazz Fusion
Year: 1973
Time: 47:57
File: MP3 @ VBR ~160K/s
Size: 54,0 MB
Art: Front

(10:42) 1. Children of Forever
( 5:53) 2. Unexpected Days
( 8:00) 3. Bass Folk Song
( 6:53) 4. Butterfly Dreams
(16:28) 5. Sea Journey

First solo album of RTF's bassist, the Chick Corea-produced Children Of Forever is very much a product of its time, with its cosmic gatefold artwork and its peace & love title, and it was recorded between the first two phases of Return To Forever (the exiting Moreira/Farrell and incoming Bill Connors and the album was released on the Polydor label), so it's quite obvious the mother project's paw is all over this jam-packed album (around 25 minutes aside). I believe this is around the time where Chick Corea told Stanley to move onto the electric bass guitar, or else he would be changing RTF's bassist, so Clarke obliged ? and luckily so for him and us),, since he became a master at it. But in the present album, he plays the contrabass on all tracks except the extravaganza piece closing the first side. The album also features a good flute, but obviously not the former RTF Joe Farrell's, but Arthur Webb's.

Amazingly enough this album starts with a very Kobaian near-11 mins title track piece, as Vander's bunch could easily claim it as theirs; from the electric piano led jazz-rock (courtesy of RTF's Corea) to the Vander-like drumming (courtesy of RTG's White) to very Orffian-like chants (almost incantations) and only Clarke's very strolling bass can effectively instil a doubt that you're not on Seventh Record label product. The following Unexpected Days is a bit less Zeuhl-ish, but the general mood can still evoke it, since the lingering impressions from the preceding piece are still alive. Andy Bey and Bridgewater's vocals are definitely more jazzy (Dee Dee sometimes close to crooning). Don't be fooled by the name of the following almost-instrumental track, which has nothing to do with folk, but everything to do with a bass guitar extravaganza, an awesome showpiece, where Clarke scats a bit like lionel Hampton did on his albums.

The flipside only features two tracks, opening with the album's jazziest 7-mins Butterfly Dreams, and it is the album's low point, not helped by the cheesy Bey vocals. The 17- mins+ Sea Journey starts very much in the mood of its predecessor, but evolves soon into an outstanding excursion in the depths of the oceans, floating on a superb lengthy bowed bass stroll, before leaving guitarist Martino some breathing space. Only the vocals are a bit cumbersome, but don't really hinder the moods either. Let's just say that I'd have no problems with having this CPF album as totally instrumental, because it could stand it easily without modifications.

Strangely enough, this debut solo album is often overlooked by fans (and sometimes books and websites), as my utterances are the first on this page, whereas the other albums are much more reviewed. This is a bit sad, because COF is a great album, despite the fact that Stanley doesn't use the electric bass, which would make him a celebrity. Maybe this is why JR/F fans tend to ignore (their losses) this excellent album.https://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=310321

Personnel: Stanley Clarke / bass fiddle, electric bass, arrangements; Dee Dee Bridgewater / vocals; Andy Bey / vocals; Pat Martino / electric & 12-string guitars; Chick Corea / electric & acoustic pianos, clavinet, arrangements producer; Arthur Webb / fluteLenny White / drums, tambourine

Children of Forever

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Andy Bey - Ain't Necessarily So

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 66:42
Size: 152.7 MB
Styles: Vocal
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[0:29] 1. Intro
[7:00] 2. Ain't Necessarily So
[9:24] 3. Hey, Love
[5:22] 4. All The Things You Are
[9:08] 5. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
[9:02] 6. If I Should Lose You
[9:20] 7. On Second Thought
[8:37] 8. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime
[8:15] 9. Someone To Watch Over Me

Singer Andy Bey is less well known as a pianist, but nowadays he leads his trio from the piano stool, his instrumental wanderlust having an equal capacity to his voice for taking a saunter down the less familiar alleyways. This live album was recorded a decade back at Birdland, in what was effectively Bey's first significant New York residency as a leader. He's joined by bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington on most of the numbers, with sticksman Vito Lesczak sitting in on two tracks.

Bey's set is standard-based, unlike his more out-there work in the 1970s, but in a cunningly subversive way, he manages to tinker with even the most familiar material, literally unstitching it until it slides down from the bandstand, where it will then wrap its tender tendrils around both the audience or the armchair listener. Choices that include "All The Things You Are," "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? and the title track don't end up sounding tiresomely routine, but take on a freshness that is now increasingly difficult to maintain.

Bey is blessed with a commanding voice that can easily swoop from a falsetto down to a vibrato-ed thundering, taking his phrasing from gospel, blues and soul, then projecting it as if from a theatrical stage, or even a pulpit. The piano is used as an extension of this technique, underlining, answering or repeating his vocal lines. This produces the unnerving effect of a combined sense of conservative old-fashioned-ness and a bold tearing up of the sacrosanct songbook. There aren't too many parallels to point out. Maybe Mark Murphy, because of his shared sense of time-displacement and his instinctive coolness.

Bey threw an album release party at New York's Blue Note in December, 2007, and his set list still remained very similar. Could this be because he hasn't changed much in a decade, or is he merely attempting to reflect the album's contents? Even some of the between-song banter remained almost exactly the same. His braids are now longer, bunched behind a pirate scarf, Bey draped in a slick suit. His rhythm team has changed—Joe Martin on bass and Lesczak handling the sticks throughout. These two were in tune with Bey's sensitivity, as he scanned these familiar songs from his little notebook or launched off into an involved instrumental that revealed his similarly winding way on the piano keys. If anything, the personal live experience seemed even more conceptual, as Bey exuded the aura of an almost totally unpredictable, abstract artist, yet from within a traditional jazz milieu. ~Martin Longley

Andy Bey: vocals, piano; Peter Washington: bass; Kenny Washington, Vito Lesczak: drums.

Ain't Necessarily So

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Fred Hersch - Passion Flower

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:42
Size: 143,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:54)  1. Lotus Blossom
(5:21)  2. Day Dream
(7:14)  3. U.M.M.G. (Upper Manhattan Medi
(5:28)  4. Pretty Girl (The Star-Crossed
(5:02)  5. Rain Check
(7:55)  6. Something to Live For
(5:43)  7. Lament for an Orchid (Absinthe
(5:11)  8. Elf (Isfahan)
(5:10)  9. Ballad for Very Tired and Very
(3:16) 10. Tonk
(5:56) 11. Passion Flower
(3:28) 12. Lush Life

A few years ago, I went down to the Village Vanguard to check out pianist Fred Hersch. Sitting next to me in the crowded club was one of today's most popular jazz singers - also a pianist. After the first set, said jazz celeb commented that Hersch was in a different league and that she really needed to take some lessons from him. What strikes us all in Hersch's playing is his perfect blend of technique, style, and sensitivity. His version of Billy Strayhorn's "Daydream," from Hersch's 1996 Strayhorn-tribute album, Passion Flower, illustrates just how good a trio and string orchestra (arranged and orchestrated by Hersch and conducted by Eric Stern) can sound. A lot of players (and arrangers) could use lessons from Hersch. ~ Jazziz https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Flower-Fred-Hersch/dp/B000005J3W

Personnel: Fred Hersch (piano); Eric Stern (conductor); Andy Bey (vocals); Laura Seaton, Joyce Hamman, Sandra Park (violin); Lois Martin, Ruth Siegler, Alejandro Mohave (viola); Erik Friedlander, Richard Locker, Jesse Levy (cello); Nurit Tilles (piano); Drew Gress (bass); Tom Rainey (drums).

Passion Flower

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Horace Silver - Total Response

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop 
Year: 1971
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:39
Size: 94,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:24)  1. Acid, Pot Or Pills
(3:37)  2. What Kind Of Animal Am I?
(3:55)  3. Won't You Open Up Your Senses
(3:46)  4. I've Had A Little Talk
(4:15)  5. Soul Searchin'
(5:19)  6. Big Business
(3:46)  7. I'm Aware Of The Animal Within Me
(6:15)  8. Old Mother Nature Calls
(5:18)  9. Total Response

When jazz critics complain about the decline of Blue Note in the late '60s and early '70s, Total Response is the kind of album they have in mind. A sprawling, incoherent, and just plain weird mess of funk, fusion, soul-jazz, African spirituality, and hippie mysticism, Total Response aims at the transcendent and stumbles upon its own ludicrous ambitions. Building from familiar, funky soul-jazz vamps, Silver wrote a set of nine songs that were designed to "bring a little more Health, Happiness, Love and Peace into your life." Appropriately, the album is filled with songs about the evils of the modern world ("Acid, Pot or Pills," "Big Business") and how self-awareness ("What Kind of Animal Am I?," "I'm Aware of the Animal Within Me") and open minds ("Won't You Open Up Your Senses," "Soul Searchin'," "I've Had Little Talk") can lead to spiritual peace and fulfillment ("Total Response"). All this may be true, but the way that it's said -- laid-back, featureless fusion vamps with awkward lyrics by Silver ("Our water isn't pure/When fluoride we endure") that are wailed tunelessly by Salome and Andy Bey -- is terribly clumsy and ridiculous. It wouldn't matter that there is "little jazz content" to the music if these fusions of soul, funk, jazz, and poetry worked, but since they fail so miserably, the lack of improvisation and inspiration from Silver, saxophonist Harold Vick, trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, guitarist Richie Resnicoff, bassist Rob Cranshaw, and drummer Mickey Roker only emphasizes what a mess Total Response is. ~ Stephen Tomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/total-response-phase-i-mw0000876702

Personnel: Horace Silver - electric piano; Cecil Bridgewater - trumpet, flugelhorn; Harold Vick - tenor saxophone; Richie Resnicoff - guitar; Bob Cranshaw - electric bass; Mickey Roker - drums; Salome Bey, Andy Bey - vocals

Total Response

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Duke Pearson - I Don't Care Who Knows It

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:00
Size: 138,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:11)  1. I Don't Care Who Knows It
(7:40)  2. Bloos
(6:38)  3. A Beautiful Friendship
(5:53)  4. Horn In
(6:38)  5. Canto Ossanha
(6:33)  6. Xibaba - Remastered
(6:58)  7. I Don't Know
(5:22)  8. O Amor En Paz (Once I Loved)
(1:59)  9. Upa Neguinho
(5:47) 10. Captain Bicardi
(3:17) 11. Theme From Rosemary's Baby

The sessions that comprise I Don't Care Who Knows It date from 1969 and 1970 (with one stray track from a 1968 session with Bobby Hutcherson), when Duke Pearson was experimenting with Latin jazz, soul-jazz, and funk; they are also the second-to-last dates the pianist ever recorded for Blue Note. Working with a fairly large group that included bassist Ron Carter, drummer Mickey Roker, saxophonists Jerry Dodgion, Frank Foster, Lew Tabackin, trumpeter Burt Collins, trombonist Kenny Rupp, and occasionally vocalist Andy Bey, Pearson plays the electric piano throughout the majority of the album. As expected, the music swings with an understated funk, with the band alternating between standard hard-bop and mellow, soulful grooves. On the whole, I Don't Care Who Knows It is fairly uneven the sessions don't set well together, but work well as individual sets. Nevertheless, there is enough good material here to make it worthwhile for soul-jazz, Latin-jazz and, especially, Pearson aficionados. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/i-dont-care-who-knows-it-mw0000181100

Personnel:  Duke Pearson - piano, electric piano, arranger; Burt Collins - trumpet (tracks 1-6 & 8); Kenny Rupp - trombone (tracks 1-5); Jerry Dodgion - flute, alto flute, alto saxophone (tracks 1-8, 10 & 11); Al Gibbons - flute (tracks 6 & 8); Lew Tabackin - tenor saxophone, flute (tracks 1-5, 7 & 10); Frank Foster - tenor saxophone, alto clarinet (tracks 1-5); Bobby Hutcherson - vibes (tracks 6-8, 10 & 11); Sam Brown (track 11), Ralph Towner (tracks 7 & 10) - acoustic guitar; Dorio Ferreira - guitar, percussion (track 9); Al Gafa (tracks 6-8 & 10), Wally Richardson (tracks 7 & 10) - guitar; Bob Cranshaw - bass (tracks 6-8, 10 & 11); Ron Carter - bass (tracks 1-5); Bebeto Jose Souza - bass (track 9); Mickey Roker - drums (tracks 1-8, 10 & 11), percussion (track 9); Airto Moreira - percussion, vocals (track 5-8, & 10), drums (track 9); Stella Mars - vocals (track 8); Andy Bey - vocals (track 1); Flora Purim - vocals (track 9)

I Don't Care Who Knows It

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Andy Bey - Tuesdays In Chinatown

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:01
Size: 130.5 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[6:52] 1. Tuesdays In Chinatown
[4:51] 2. Fragile
[4:59] 3. Bridges
[5:32] 4. Saidas E. Bandeiras
[7:04] 5. In A Mist
[5:32] 6. I'll Remember April
[7:00] 7. Invitation
[6:14] 8. Little Girl Blue
[2:36] 9. Just Friends
[6:17] 10. Feelin' Lowdown

Vocalist/pianist Andy Bey is in fine form on Tuesdays in Chinatown, the third installment in a comeback series that began in 1995 with Ballads, Blues & Bey and continued with 1998's Shades of Bey. Here Bey continues to explore fairly eclectic repertoire. His jazz roots are well represented with standards such as "I'll Remember April," "Invitation," "Little Girl Blue," and "Just Friends." There are also two beautiful songs by Milton Nascimento, "Bridges" and "Saidas e Bandeiras" (the latter sung in Portuguese), as well as a (so-so) cover of Sting's "Fragile." Bey's vocal is entirely wordless on the Bix Beiderbecke composition "In a Mist," one of the disc's more ambitious undertakings. The best cuts, however, are the first and the last: first, the lush and mellow title track, featuring John Sneider on flügelhorn; last, Big Bill Broonzy's "Feelin' Lowdown," a self-accompanied slow blues that showcases Bey's gift to full effect. Bey is backed mainly by bassist Peter Washington and drummer Victor Lewis, with guitarist Paul Meyers playing a major role on four tracks. Appearing as guests are Ron Carter, Marty Ehrlich, Steve Turre, Earl Gardner, Mino Cinelu, and more. Geri Allen crafted the horn arrangements; one only wishes there were more of them. ~David R. Adler

Tuesdays In Chinatown mc
Tuesdays In Chinatown zippy

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Andy & The Bey Sisters - 'Round Midnight

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:57
Size: 75.5 MB
Styles: Soul jazz
Year: 1965/2007
Art: Front

[6:17] 1. Love Medley: Love Is Just Around The Corner/I Love You/Love You Madly
[3:37] 2. God Bless The Child
[3:38] 3. Squeeze Me
[2:12] 4. Tammy
[2:24] 5. Hallelujah, I Love Her So
[2:39] 6. Everybody Loves My Baby
[3:25] 7. 'Round Midnight
[2:46] 8. Solitude
[2:54] 9. Feeling Good
[3:00] 10. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye

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 set 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. ~Steve Leggett

'Round Midnight

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Andy Bey - Chillin' with Andy Bey

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:12
Size: 126,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:19)  1. Mountain Greenery
(5:01)  2. With A Song In My Heart
(5:45)  3. When Your Lover Has Gone
(4:40)  4. My Heart Stood Still
(5:06)  5. There'll Never Be Another You
(6:47)  6. The Other Half Of Me
(3:44)  7. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
(4:54)  8. Sophisticated Lady
(6:47)  9. More Love Than Your Love
(6:04) 10. I've Got A Crush On You

A major addition to the recorded history of one of the greatest jazz voices ever! For his last studio release, 2005 s American Song, Andy Bey received a Grammy® nomination. One of the greatest vocalists and interpreters of the Great American Songbook. Recorded during a European tour in 2002, when Andy enjoyed a few days off and had the luxury of unlimited access to an intimate studio with a perfect piano. Without any pressure, he was able to express himself at his best. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Chillin-Andy-Bey/dp/B0000DGR70

Personnel: Andy Bey (vocals, piano).

Chillin' with Andy Bey

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Duke Pearson - How Insensitive

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1969
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:29
Size: 79,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:40)  1. Stella By Starlight
(2:44)  2. Clara
(3:25)  3. Give Me Your Love
(3:54)  4. Cristo Redentor
(2:55)  5. Little Song
(2:15)  6. How Insensitive
(3:31)  7. Sandalia Dela
(4:37)  8. My Love Waits
(3:30)  9. Tears
(2:51) 10. Lamento

Like most Blue Note artists, Duke Pearson moved toward commercial-oriented soul-jazz in the late '60s. At least, How Insensitive was supposed to be commercial. Pearson simplified his original compositions, chose standards like "Stella By Starlight," and covered contemporary pop songs like Jobim's "Lamento." He also assembled a large band with rock instrumentation like electric guitars, bass, electric pianos, and drum kits. Most importantly, he hired the New York Group Singers' Big Band a group of singers that are arranged like a horn section (males are the trombones, females are alto saxes, etc.) to sing on each song. The vocalists may be technically gifted in particular, Andy Bey has a rich voice but their presence on these arrangements is quite bizarre, especially since they take center stage. 

Each song on How Insensitive boasts extravagant, layered arrangements that flirt with schmaltz, but the voicings and attack are so unusual, the result is a weird variation on easy listening. There is little opportunity for Pearson to showcase his tasteful playing through improvisation, yet the arrangements are so off-kilter, the music never quite works as background music. In other words, it's a very interesting failure and one of the strangest by-products of Blue Note's late-'60s commercialization. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine http://www.allmusic.com/album/how-insensitive-mw0000463221

Personnel:  Duke Pearson - piano, electric piano, arranger;  Al Gafa - guitar (tracks 1-6 & 8);  Dorio Ferreira - guitar, percussion (tracks 7, 9 & 10);  Bob Cranshaw - bass (tracks 1-6 & 8);  Bebeto Jose Souza - bass (tracks 7, 9 & 10);  Mickey Roker – drums;  Airto Moreira – percussion;  Andy Bey - lead vocals (track 2), vocals (1, 3-6 & 8);  Flora Purim - lead vocals (tracks 7, 9 & 10);  The New York Group Singers' Big Band - vocals (tracks 1-6 & 8);  Jack Manno - conductor

How Insensitive

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Andy Bey - Shades Of Bey

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:30
Size: 115.6 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals, Soul jazz
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[4:40] 1. Like A Lover (O Cantador)
[5:47] 2. Midnight Blue
[6:24] 3. Get It Straight
[5:17] 4. Pretty Girls (The Starcrossed Lovers)
[4:19] 5. River Man
[6:18] 6. Dark Shadows
[3:42] 7. Believin' It (Half & Half)
[4:10] 8. Some Other Time
[6:56] 9. The Last Light Of Evening (Blood Count)
[2:54] 10. Drume Negrita

Andy Bey's bass-baritone voice has aged over the last thirty-odd years, but it's aged well; he now sings in a husky drawl that sounds all the more warm and intimate for being a bit ragged around the edges. When he goes into falsetto, as on "Midnight Blue," athe sound is so dark that you don't recognize it as falsetto at first. This album peaks early on with "Like a Lover," a wistful love song with only the gentlest, sparest guitar accompaniment. But there are many other beautiful moments, the best of which always come on the slow numbers: the Billy Strayhorn classic "Pretty Girl," on which Bey sounds like Billy Eckstine with a weathered patina to his voice, and the surprising Nick Drake cover, the moody and intense "River Man." His vocal version of Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" is fun, but it tends to expose the limitations of his range; however, he makes the uptempo "Believin' It" work beautifully -- Geri Allen's edgy, modernist piano contrasts nicely with Bey's effusive, bop-inflected delivery. ~Rick Anderson

Shades Of Bey

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Andy Bey - Pages From an Imaginary Life

Size: 154,3 MB
Time: 66:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. My Foolish Heart (5:04)
02. How Long Has This Been Going On? (5:44)
03. Jealousy (3:29)
04. I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues (5:50)
05. Love For Sale (4:21)
06. Worried Life Blues (4:12)
07. Bad Luck May Be Good Luck (4:49)
08. Lover Come Back To Me (3:18)
09. Good Morning Heartache (4:53)
10. Dod Eat Dog (2:12)
11. Humor Keeps Us Alive (3:46)
12. Take the "a" Train (3:19)
13. Everything I Have Is Yours (4:47)
14. All That Glitter's Not Gold (5:20)
15. All Roads Lead Back to You (5:33)

An extraordinarily gifted vocalist with the soul of a poet. ~Brent Black / www.criticaljazz.com

Solo. Playing and singing the songs that Andy Bey chooses finds Pages From An Imaginary Life as an intimate self portrait of a vocal artist. Bey digs deep and takes forgotten gems for a new round of melodic discovery. Tunes are deconstructed and reassembled his way with an organic feel that allows the listener to join this extremely talented vocalist on a very special harmonic journey. Songs are reborn with a personal interpretation of both style and elegance that embraces the notion of less is more. Simplicity is indeed the ultimate in sophistication.

Highlights are numerous including an intense yet dialed down version of "I've Got A Right To Sing The Blues" which pairs nicely with the classic "Love For Sale" which unlike other male singers, Bey's interpretation is in first person. Rare gems such as the Billy Eckstein classic "Everything I Have Is Yours" take flight while original compositions such as "Bad Luck May Be Good Luck" have an amazing sincerity with heartfelt lyrics easily relatable to a wide audience.

Andy Bey is an American original, a story teller of great depth and amazing clarity. His vocals and piano style simple enhance the ethereal flavor of an artist that doesn't just sing the words, he makes the music.
Stellar!

Pages From an Imaginar

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Paul Meyers Quartet - Paul Meyers Quartet Featuring Frank Wess

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 65:32
Size: 150.0 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz, Saxophone jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[7:25] 1. Snibor
[6:32] 2. Blue Lanturn
[5:36] 3. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
[7:32] 4. One For Miss D
[5:00] 5. Lazy Afternoon
[4:53] 6. Menage A Bleu
[5:25] 7. Just One Of Those Things
[8:30] 8. My One And Only Love
[6:54] 9. Who Cares
[7:39] 10. I Cover The Waterfront

Count Paul Meyers among those relatively few jazz guitarists who concentrate on playing a nylon-string instrument. Assembling a terrific band for these sessions, including veteran bandleader and Basie alum Frank Wess on tenor sax and flute, bassist Martin Wind (a leader as well and regular collaborator with pianist Bill Mays), and drummer Tony Jefferson, Meyers includes a mix of standards, originals, and well-known jazz compositions. Oddly enough, the bluesy opener, "Snibor," is not one of Billy Strayhorn's more widely played works (though Duke Ellington fans will be familiar with it), but the light, swinging treatment with Wind's intricate solo, Wess' robust tenor, and the leader's subtle playing signals immediately that this is an impressive outing. All of the standards shine, including the breezy setting of "Just One of Those Things" with engaging features for Meyers and Wess; the warm rendition of "Lazy Afternoon" with guest vocalist Andy Bey; and the gorgeous "My One and Only Love," which opens as a duo by Wess and Meyers with a delayed entrance by the rhythm section. Wess contributed "Menage a Bleu," a tasty blues that sounds like the perfect wrap-up for a late-night club date. Meyers penned a pair of originals, "Blue Lantern," a pulsating vehicle featuring Wess' spirited flute and Meyers' cooking guitar, and the choppy, infectious "One for Miss D." The Paul Meyers Quartet Featuring Frank Wess is a delight from start to finish. ~ Ken Dryden

Acoustic jazz guitarist Paul Meyers is joined by Frank Wess on tenor saxophone and flute, bassist Martin Wind, drummer Tony Jefferson. Joining the quartet on vocals on the song Lazy Afternoon is Andy Bey.

Recording information: Bennett Studios, Englewood, NJ (01/18/2007-01/19/2007).

Personnel: Paul Meyers (nylon-string guitar); Martin Wind (acoustic bass); Tony Jefferson (drums).

Paul Meyers Quartet Featuring Frank Wess

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Andy Bey - The World According To Andy Bey

Styles: Jazz
Label: Blue Note
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:36
Size: 116,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:27)  1. It Never Entered My Mind
(6:07)  2. But Not For Me
(3:21)  3. Dedicated to Miles
(6:46)  4. The Demons Are After You
(4:03)  5. Love Is Here To Stay
(6:08)  6. There's So Many Ways to Approach the Blues
(2:32)  7. This Joint is Jumpin'
(4:44)  8. Being Part of What's Happening Now
(3:57)  9. The Morning After
(2:07) 10. S'Wonderful
(5:18) 11. Dissertation On A State Of Bliss

Andy Bey is one of those vocalists who every jazz enthusiast knows but is not generally well-known. He has been performing since he was 17 when he formed a trio with his two sisters called Andy And The Bey Sisters. When the group broke up in 1967, Bey went out on his own as a sometime pianist with Horace Silver and Gary Bartz, and then doing his own thing as a pianist/vocalist. It is in this last configuration that Bey emerges with The World According To Andy Bey, his first release since 2007.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given the context (piano/vocals) and the material that Bey has chosen, most of the compositions are sung as ballads or in slower tempos. The two ex-ceptions are Fats Waller’s “The Joint Is Jumpin’” and the George Gershwin standard “’S’ Wonderful” both of which are offered in a slightly more robust fashion than all the other tunes. The Waller opus has more bounce, given the engaging and witty lyric.

Unadorned, and supported by his own minimalist piano-playing, Bey’s baritone voice has a swooping throaty tone, but filled with a dramatic command of resonance and tex-ture. Using all his proficiency, Bey leads off this session with a surely attuned rendition of “It Never Entered My Mind” which is faultlessly followed by the George and Ira Gershwin classic “But Not For Me”. Bey’s skill with vocalese is brought into sharp relief with his own composition “Dedicated To Miles”, which is just one of several of his own tunes that populate the album. Songs such as “The Demons Are After You”, “There’s So Many Ways To Approach The Blues” and “Being Part Of What’s Happening Now” are word-stories more talked thru than sung, but still replete with expressiveness.

Andy Bey is an adroit and fascinating vocalist who teases the best out of his material to give his listeners an invigorating experience.~Pierre Giroux (http://audaud.com/2013/06/the-world-according-to-andy-bey-high-note-records/)

The World According To Andy Bey

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