Tuesdays in Chinatown

1	Tuesdays in Chinatown 6:52
2	Fragile 4:50
3	Bridges 4:58
4	Saidas E. Bandeiras 5:36
5	In a Mist 7:06
6	I'll Remember April 5:35
7	Invitation 7:01
8	Little Girl Blue 6:17
9	Just Friends 2:40
10	Feelin' Lowdown 6:18

Barnes & Noble

Andy Bey’s baritone voice sounds remarkably like a bowed double-bass. His range extends from booming, bottomless lows all the way up to an unexpectedly delicate high end. He can navigate throughout with ease and perfect legato, and never a sign of strain. Without exception, Bey’s approach to material is marked by meticulous diction and attention to the sheer generation of sound. No note is ill considered, no tone is unlovely. Bey’s care with each note, and the lushness of his sound, is reminiscent of great singers of an earlier era, like Billy Eckstein or Arthur Prysock, but Bey is clearly working in a modern idiom, with material that covers a spectrum of periods and composers. Tuesdays in Chinatown includes everything from Sting’s eco-anthem “Fragile” to a pair of songs by the Brazilian composer Milton Nascimento (including one sung partly in Portuguese), and a blues number by Big Bill Broonzy, “Feelin’ Lowdown.” As if to drive home the point that his musicianship knows no bounds, Bey sings an old Bix Beiderbecke number, “In a Mist,” entirely in scat, accompanied by Geri Allen’s rich horn arrangements, then plays a beautiful, genuinely interesting piano solo that explores the outer contours of the tune before scatting his way to the finale. There are a number of well-known jazz players making guest appearances on the disc, including Ron Carter, Steve Turre, and Marty Ehrlich, and a definite highlight arrives with a gorgeous string arrangement by Andy Stein on “Just Friends,” but the focus is always on Bey. This is a lovely album by a highly gifted singer in his prime. If only more jazz vocalists could produce a collection as consistent and original as this one. Will Meyerhofer

All Music Guide

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