One of the rare few records recorded by a young Andy Bey and his sisters! The group was an obscure jazz harmony trio formed by Andy in his earlier years – and it features him on piano, joining with the vocals of his two sisters Salome and Geradine Bey – in a soulful, moody style that's unlike anything else we can think of! Their three heavenly voices are backed by Kenny Burrell's guitar, Milt Hinton's bass, and Osie Johnson's drums, and there's lots of room around the arrangments for the Beys to stretch out and sing beautifully. Includes a haunting arrangment of "Round Midnight", plus "God Bless The Child", "Everytime We Say Goodbye", "Solitude", and the "Love Medley". CD

Andy Bey on piano and vocals, with no other support – still sounding great after all these many years on the planet – and still one of the most unique singers in jazz! The album's based on a set of familiar standards, structured into "pages" – at a level that almost gives the record a sense of narrative structure – but although the tunes are well-known, Bey's performances certainly aren't – as he manages to break down the rhythms and melodies in really unusual ways with his piano lines, then match their energy with his singing, which still has all the old angular inflections you'd know from his work with Horace Silver or Gary Bartz. At some level, the spareness and deep roots take us back to his work with the Bey Sisters – without them in place, obviously – although there's a much richer sense of life and world presence holding the music together here. Titles include "Dog Eat Dog", "My Foolish Heart", "Jealousy", "All That Glitters Is Not Gold", "Everything I Have is Yours", "Humor Keeps Us Alive", "Good Morning Heartache", "Love For Sale", and "Lover Come Back To Me". CD

An interesting little record from Geraldine DeHaas – a Chicago-based jazz vocalist who's probably best known to Dusty Groove customers as Geraldine Bey, which was her name when she was part of the legendary Andy & The Bey Sisters! This record bears few traces of her earlier work, and is more in kind of a "classy jazzy soul" mode, ala 70s work by Marlena Shaw. The arrangements are by Tom Washington, who did a bunch of Chicago soul work for Brunswick, and Bob Perna. The set list leans heavily to Paul Anka numbers, but Geraldine actually makes them sound pretty decent. Titles include "Keep On Walkin", "Wheels Of Life", "Everything's Been Changed", "We Made It Happen", and "Your Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant work by Peggy Lee – very different than most of her later more pop-oriented recordings! Peggy signed to Decca as a solo act right after working with bigger bands in the 40s, and her recordings for the label are wonderful – featuring many ballads and torchy numbers, recorded in small-combo fashion, in a style that's similar to some of Chris Connor's later Bethlehem work, plus some larger arrangements that push her even further, and which move into a wealth of interesting styles that show her to be an incredibly talented vocalist. The package features a total of 46 tracks in all – and tracks include "Black Coffee", "Lover", "You Go To My Head", "Let Me Go Lover", "Joey Joey Joey", "My Old Flame", "Street Of Dreams", "Where Flamingos Fly", "Johnny Guitar", "Sisters", "Bouquet Of Blues", "Love Letters", and "Sans Souci". CD

A really cool set, and one that goes way past the usual 60s soul and pop modes that usually define a girl group compilation – as this one goes way way back, and traces female harmony modes from the early swing years onwards – served up in a massive 82 track package that's overflowing with surprises! The material really shows the evolution of the mode in a great way – mixing early 78rpm tracks with postwar 45s and LP titles – in modes that include jazz, soul, R&B, and pop – all supported by the usual great French and English notes that we love from this label! CD3 features all early 60s material, with a few decades spanned on the previous 2CDs – work by artists who include Daindridge Sisters, Angels, Blossoms, Cookies, Poni-Tails, Bonnie Sisters, Beverly Sisters, Clark Sisters, Shirley Gunter & The Queens, Paulette Sisters, Chordettes, Raelettes, Quin-Tones, Paris Sisters, Royalettes, Starletts, Charmaines, Dinning Siters, Fontaine Sisters, Boswell Sisters, The Enchanters, and others. (Soul, Vocalists) CD