As cult figures go in popular music, Andy and the Bey Sisters rank with the cultiest. The trio of singing siblings from Newark, New Jersey–Andy Bey, who also plays piano, and his older sisters Geraldine and Salome–started out in the mid-1950s as an east coast lounge act. But their first European tour–a two-month gig that stretched into two years–made them a favorite of the cognoscenti who heard them at such venues as Paris’s famed Blue Note nightclub. American jazz impresario George Wein took them under his wing, guiding them to a contract with RCA Victor, which released their self-titled debut album in 1961. The record, now long out of print, proclaimed them a “unique vocal trio.” The adjective was apt. Their dark, throbbingly emotional sound–bluesy and gospel-tinged, characterized by heavy vibratos, slow tempos, and dramatic dynamics–swelled from a vocal blend developed over years of ad-libbing.
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“It wasn’t like the Hi-Los or the Four Freshmen–it had a more improvisational feel,” recalls Andy, now based in New York and enjoying a newly reenergized solo career. “It was homegrown.” Adds his sister Geraldine de Haas, now a highly respected jazz producer in Chicago, “We were all unschooled. Someone described us as primitive in a way. We heard and felt things differently; we didn’t know the rules. So we broke them.”
While Salome Bey pursued a musical-theater career on Broadway and in Toronto, Geraldine married jazz bassist Eddie de Haas and moved to Chicago, where she’s been active as a performer (the original Chicago production of Hair, Free Street Theater, and numerous gigs at jazz clubs over the years) and arts administrator. The former director of performing arts programs for the Illinois Arts Council, she’s founder and president of Jazz Unites Inc., a south-side agency whose programming includes an annual Duke Ellington tribute as well as the yearly Jazzfest
Old fans and new admirers can sample the Bey artistry when Andy Bey and Geraldine de Haas appear together–for the first time in years–this Friday as part of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs’ “Rollin’ on Randolph” series, which offers performances and discussions in an intimate, nonclub setting. They’ll sing and talk about their work at 12:15 PM at the Chicago Cultural Center’s second-floor Claudia Cassidy Theater, 78 E. Washington. It’s free; call 312-744-6630 for more information.
