'Round Midnight

by Andy Bey, The Bey Sisters, Andy and the Bey Sisters

Overview

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

Product Details

Release Date:	11/03/2023
Label:	Universal
UPC:	4988005573568
Rank:	138744

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Andy and the Bey Sisters   Primary Artist
Andy Bey   Primary Artist,Vocals,Piano
The Bey Sisters   Primary Artist
Geraldine Bey   Vocals,Vocals
Salome Bey   Vocals
Osie Johnson   Drums
Milt Hinton   Bass
Bey Sisters   Vocals
Kenny Burrell   Guitar

Technical Credits

Nick Phillips   Audio Production,Reissue Producer
Chris Clough   Reissue Producer,Reissue Production Assistance
Stuart Kremsky   Reissue Producer,Reissue Production Assistance
Bob Porter   Audio Production,Reissue Producer
Neil Tesser   Liner Notes
Cole Porter   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Fats Waller   Composer
Leslie Bricusse   Composer
Rudy Van Gelder   Engineer,Liner Notes,Remastering
Thelonious Monk   Composer
Cal Lampley   Supervisor
Zev Feldman   Assistant
Cootie Williams   Composer
Clarence Williams   Composer
Larissa Collins   Assistant
Rikka Arnold   Editorial
Wendy Nyquist Sherman   Assistant
Irving Mills   Composer
Eddie DeLange   Composer
Bernie Hanighen   Composer
Christopher Peters   Liner Notes
Spencer Williams   Composer