Andy Bey came to Ann Arbor for two performances on Saturday, June 26th. I had never heard of this sultry jazz singer until several weeks ago when John Cady invited everyone on the fridaychurch@umich.edu group to join him for the early show. He offered the loan of his two Andy Bey CDs. I asked to borrow the CDs, and after listening to parts of each, thought that this was a show I would probably enjoy.
I typically did not seek out male jazz vocalists, or for that matter, jazz vocalists, period. But Andy Bey had a distinctive voice. His tunes were by and large romantic; bluesy in content, but very much jazz in presentation.
On the Saturday before the show, I was driving back from Chelsea when a hauntingly beautiful song began playing on the radio. The melody was riveting, the orchestra played a romantic backdrop, and the voice was commanding. I thought to myself over and over, "Please tell me this is Andy Bey...". I didn't remember the song from one of the CDs, but this sounded like it could be Andy Bey.
When the announcer followed up with some information about this mysterious song, I learned that this was indeed Andy Bey. I knew that I needed to get my ticket before they were all gone. The music had moved me. I truly was not sure I had ever heard a more beautiful song.
At the Firefly Club, which was hosting the show, we were fortunate enough to get our own table, but had been advised to prepare to share a table. I suggested we try to get a table with a view of the piano's keyboard, since Bey is a pianist as well as a vocalist. His dreadlocks were a surprise after having seen only a few photos of him on the CDs "Shades of Bey" and "Ballads, Blues, and Bey", which did not show any hair style in particular.
[themes of his performance:
* always smiling - seemed like a very happy person
* highly improvisational; most songs that were "standards" were heavily interpreted; the well-known song that he stuck most closely to was "It Ain't Necessarily So"
* never predictable - nothing at all routine about his interpretations
* never in a hurry; plenty of pauses between words or phrases - left time to think about the music and absorb it
* seemed to make time stand still - when the first set ended, I was not at all prepared to leave even though we only had tickets for the first set
* after having sat through two sets, for a total of five hours at the club, it didn't feel nearly that long
* many of his songs had to do with love, which might not seem very manly, but he was a very manly man
* his voice was very sultry; his style was sort of erotic - wooing; he seemed to really be feeling what he was singing
* I was extremely moved by River Man, and John was surprised to find that he really liked Bey's rendition of Sophisticated Lady, a song he has never particularly liked
* it occurred to me to wonder what the men in the audience thought of Bey's voice, and felt fairly certain that the women they had accompanied were very much enjoying the show; John made an amusing comment elaborating on this theme, and taking it even farther ]