Bean was born into a musical family in Philadelphia. His mother played the piano. His father was an amateur singer and guitarist, and his sister was a professional singer. He started on guitar at the age of twelve. Then he studied for about one year with
Dennis Sandole. During the late 1940s and 1950s, he performed at venues in the Philadelphia area. In the mid-1950s, he moved to New York City and recorded with
Charlie Ventura and
Red Callender, and in 1958 he moved to Los Angeles In Los Angeles, he worked with
Buddy Collette,
Paul Horn,
John Pisano,
Bud Shank, In October, 1959, Bean returned to New York City after accepting
Tony Bennett's offer to join his band. He remained with Bennett's band for less than one year. Hal Gaylor, who had been Bennett's bassist, assembled a trio with Bean and pianist
Walter Norris; they called themselves The Trio and recorded an album Bean performed with
Stan Getz,
Herbie Mann, and
John Lewis, recording albums with Mann and Lewis. He returned to his hometown of Philadelphia, retiring in 1986. ==Discography==