“Once you’ve found out who you are, you can express that kind of feeling.”

TRQ: Andy Bey, Born October 28, 1939

Jazz singer and pianist Andy Bey was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 28, 1939. Openly gay and HIV-positive, Bey has remained under the mainstream radar while his 4-octave vocal range and masterful interpretation of lyrics have earned him the respect of jazz legends like John Coltrane, Max Roach, and Duke Pearson. On television Bey has appeared regularly and performed alongside such greats as Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington.

Andy Bey as a child had a profound connection to jazz as a musical art form. Growing up in Newark, Bey had eight siblings in a family of jazz enthusiasts. He started playing the piano at 3 and singing in front of audiences at 8.

When Bey was 12, he performed with bandleader Louis Jordan at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. A year later he recorded his first album, Mama’s Little Boy’s Got the Blues. Bey soon appeared regularly on television in programs like Spotlight on Harlem.

Bey joined two of his sisters in forming the trio Andy & the Bey Sisters when he was 17. Jazz composer and pianist Duke Ellington praised their approach to ensemble singing as “beyond category.”

A year later, Bey dropped out of his senior year at Newark’s Arts High School and the trio went on a 16-month tour throughout Europe. They appear triumphantly in Chet Baker’s documentary, Let’s Get Lost (1988), while onstage in Paris. Unfortunately, Andy & the Bey Sisters broke up in 1967, after recording three albums.

Through the 1960s and 70s Bey performed on the television show Startime with Connie Francis. He also sang for Louis Jordan and his band. During the 70s he released numerous solo albums, including Experience and Judgement (1974), which marked the start of his work with the pianist Horace Silver.

Bey and Silver worked together for over twenty years. While Silver released several religious albums featuring Bey, the more mainstream It’s Got to Be Funky (1993) was their most successful.

“You have to really deal with that issue of who you are, whether you’re gay or straight or lesbian or whatever. And I think it needs to be talked about in order to liberate yourself.”
— Andy Bey

Black and gay, coming out for Bey was complicated. He has acknowledged facing homophobia in the jazz world, which affected his career. Then, in 1994, Bey was diagnosed as HIV-positive.

As he once explained, “I came out in the 70s, actually. It wasn’t a big flag-waving thing. A lot of the musicians knew where I was coming from.”

“It wasn’t so much the issue of being gay as the issue of being black, gay and HIV+. But I’ve always felt the draft one way or the other. There’s always been some kind of phobia.”

He further explained, “So I think that being black, HIV+ and gay, you have to really come to grips with that and accept that, and not feel you have to hide or run away from somebody. And even though there are still issues, and there’s a lot of anger, I take one step at a time. It’s still that thing you have to deal with on a daily basis. It’s not a big deal because if it’s not one thing, it’s another thing. I have to accept and deal with all three of those issues on a daily basis.

Recording nothing for decades, Bey returned in 1991 with As Time Goes By. He has continued making albums since the 90s, many with the help of Herb Jordan. Ballads, Blues & Bey (1996) proved to be a comeback album.

In 2004, Bey released American Song, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. The World According to Andy Bey (2013) was also nominated for a Grammy.

“Did you know that gratefulness helps get rid of fear?”
— Andy Bey

In 2001, New Orleans proclaimed February 10 to be Andy Bey Day. In 2003, the Jazz Journalists Association honoured him the Jazz Vocalist of the Year award. The Broadway at Birdland concert series honoured Bey with Celestial Being: The 80th Birthday Concert Celebrating Andy Bey in December 2019.

Through yoga and a vegetarian diet, Bey’s life and career continue to thrive. He attracts new audiences through his extraordinary talent, his music, and his message of the transformational power of self-acceptance.

About the Authors:

Troy Wise is currently a PhD student at UAL Central St Martins and teaches fashion and graphic design at London College of Contemporary Arts. His background is in marketing and he is founder and co-editor of Image Amplified. He lives in, and is continually fascinated by, the city of London.

Rick Guzman earned his most recent MA at UAL Central St Martins in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries. He currently holds two MA’s and an MBA in the New Media, Journalism and International Business fields. Co-editor at Image Amplified since its start, he lives in London, is fascinated by history and is motivated by continuing to learn and explore.

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Sources:

NY Times

Columbia

Jazz Times

Birdland Jazz

Ubuntu Biography Project

All Music