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Abbey Lincoln - RIP


Chuck Nessa

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She was a special human at a necessary time.

Agreed, but wasn't her relation to the beat often rather approximate -- essentially that of the declamatory cabaret singer she was in the mid-1950s? It's not that she didn't "swing"(though I don't recall she really did; her interests seemed to lie elsewhere) but rather IMO that her approach was more or less dramatic, not musical. I'm not a Lincoln scholar by any means, but I've heard more than few performances where she and the musicians seem to be inhabiting two different (and to my taste, incompatible) worlds.

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On the inside foldout cover to the Inner City release of People In Me, there were some cool pictures of Abbey with Miles Davis. Miles is wearing those octagon glasses that are on the cover of Get Up With It. Evidently, Abbey accompanied Miles on a Japanese tour, and it was on that tour that she recorded People In Me (Dave Liebman, Al Foster and Mtume are in the band for that, along with some Japanese musicians). Did Miles play some role in getting Abbey to perform again?

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Just pulled out my two favorite CDs by Abby Lincoln.

"You Gotta Pay The Band" with Stan Getz, Hank Jones, Charlie Haden, Mark Johnson & Maxine Roach

"The World Is Falling Down" with Clark Terry, Jackie Mclean, Alain Jean-Marie, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins

Plan to play them soon.

R.I.P.

Edited by Peter Friedman
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RIP. This one is particularly sad. Abbey Lincoln was always so alive, so large a presence. That big smile of hers could really pick you up.

It is hard to imagine that she not longer inhabits this earth.

As a singer, she was quite unique. I am a big fan.

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Fortunately, got to see her perform on quite a few occasions from the mid '70s always in NYC until, most recently at the Mt Hood JF outside of Portland in '04. Particularly enjoyed her at a concert featuring 2 "jazz divas", i.e., she and Shirley Horn, in separate sets at Lincoln Center around '91 or so. Even got to see her perform once in a straight, non-musical, play at the Henry Street Settlement on NYC's lower east side. Always a very honest, and emotionally generous performer. Very sad to hear of her departure.

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Abbey Lincoln gave a concert in Albany, New York in the mid 1990's. The concert was sponsored by the New York State Black Political Caucus (all African American State Senators and Assemblymen and their staffs.

The Black Political Caucus reserved the entire center section of the theater for themselves and made the ticket holder/music fans sit in the wings.

During the concert, the caucus drank from bottles poured at their seats, guffawed and yelled and caroused and paid no attention to Abbey Lincoln while she sang. They got up and left in droves during her show, right in her face.

Abbey struggled, but gave a phenomenal and intense performance. I met her as she left the stage.

Abbey was in tears and crying for quite a bit after the show.

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Heard it in the cultural news of our local radio station this afternoon while driving, and while on the way home I caught the Monday evening jazz special they dedicated to her, including some interview passages - German writer Christian Broecking had been able to visit her while she was still in her own home a year ago. Very moving to hear her talking so frankly about the drawbacks after cutting the Freedom Now Suite. 

She probably was the first jazz singer I really got a message from - I cherish her Candid album, which I played every day after I got it back in the late '70's - thanks for a great life in music.  

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This one hurts....

I got to work with Abbey on her CD Over The Years. I was to write out charts of her tunes for the band.

I went over her house almost everyday for a few weeks and she would play her tunes on the piano (she had a great piano style, minimalist voicings but of a clarity that really worked) and I would tape them and then go home and transcribe them and bring them back and go over them with her.

We worked a few hours a day and then we would sit and talk for hours as she had a few cognacs.

She was one of the most amazing people I have ever met. In addition to be the great singer/musician/composer she was, she was also a great artist. Her artwork was on display around the apartment. She also made amazing dolls. Again quite a person. The record date went well and that was that. I didn't know what to do next. We spent a lot of time together working on the music for the album and seemed to have a good rapport but when it was over, what was I to do, call her up and invite for a drink or dinner? Music relationships can be strange that way, once the work is finished, that's usually it. I never did anything, ran into her a couple of times at various functions. She was always nice and gracious. She was a wonderful person and this is a huge loss

Edited by david weiss
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Abbey celebrated her 80th birthday on Friday August 6th.

I featured her music that night for four hours.

Here is the playlist.

I'm so glad I got to play her music, not as a memorial, but as a birthdy

celebration. I would have played a memorial also, as so many others have:

Jazz on WGBH with Steve Schwartz

Aug 06, 2010

8:00PM - 12:00AM

ABBEY AT 80 (b. 8/6/1930)

8:00PM

The Music is The Magic

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Abbey Sings Abbey

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

8:09PM

I Got Thunder (And It Rings)

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: The World is Falling Down

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do

Name: Eric Dolphy

Name of CD: Candid Dolphy

Composer: Porter; Grainger

Track Label: Candid

Notes: featuring Abbey Lincoln

Sophisticated Lady

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Painted Lady

Composer: D. Ellington

Track Label: ITM Records

8:36PM

Caged Bird

Name: Steve Wilson

Name of CD: Soulful Song

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: MaxJazz

Notes: Featuring Rene Marie

Throw It Away

Name: Marc Cary

Name of CD: Listen

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Arabesque

Blue Monk

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Straight Ahead

Composer: T. Monk; A. Lincoln

Track Label: Candid

8:43PM

Tender is A Rose

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: THat's Him!

Composer: P. Moore

Track Label: Riverside

I Must Have That Man

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: THat's Him!

Composer: Fields; McHugh

Track Label: Riverside

Afro-Blue

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Abbey Is Blue

Composer: Brown; Mann

Track Label: Riverside

Come Sunday

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Abbey Is Blue

Composer: D. Ellington

Track Label: Riverside

I Am in Love

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: It's Magic

Composer: C. Porter

Track Label: Riverside

Love

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: It's Magic

Composer: Blane; MAtrin

Track Label: Riverside

9:24PM

Not to Worry

Name: Judi Silvano

Name of CD: Women's Work

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: JSL Records

Should've Been

Name: Kelly Johnson

Name of CD: Home

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Sapphire

Bird Alone

Name: Sheila Jordan

Name of CD: Jazz Child

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: HighNote

9:45PM

Bird Alone

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: You Gotta Pay The Band

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

Notes: featuring Stan Getz

Throw it Away

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: A Turtle's Dream

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

And It's Supposed to Be Love

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Wholly Earth

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

10:09PM

Love Walked In

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Affair

Composer: Gershwin

Track Label: Capitol

Crazy He Calls Me

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Affair

Composer: Russell; Sigman

Track Label: Capitol

Warm Valley

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Affair

Composer: D. Ellington

Track Label: Capitol

You Do Something To Me

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Affair

Composer: C> Porter

Track Label: Capitol

Do Nothin 'till You Hear from Me

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Affair

Composer: D. Ellington

Track Label: Capitol

Lonesome Cup of Coffee

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Affair

Composer: B. Russell

Track Label: Capitol

10:28PM

The World is Falling Down;

Learning How to Listen; Being Me

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Abbey Sings Abbey

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

10:42PM

Down Here Below

Name: Jeffrey Smith

Name of CD: Down Here Below

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

When I'm Called Home

Name: Rodney Kendrick

Name of CD: We Don't Die We Multiply

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

Throw It Away

Name: Mili Bermejo; Dan Greenspan

Name of CD: Duo

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: GM Recordings

11:03PM

Driva' Man

Name: Max Roach

Name of CD: We Insist-Freedom Now Suite

Composer: Roach; Brown

Track Label: Candid

African Lady

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Straight Ahead

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Candid

Lonesome Lover

Name: Max Roach

Name of CD: It's Time

Composer: M. Roach; A. Lincoln

Track Label: Impulse

11:23PM

Strange Fruit

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Abbey Sings Billie

Composer: Allen

Track Label: Enja

You and Me Love

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: People in Me

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

Talking to The Sun

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: Talking to The Sun

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Enja

Wholly Earth

Name: Frank Morgan

Name of CD: A Lovesome Thing

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Antilles

Notes: featuring Abbey Lincoln

The Nearness of You

Name: Abbey Lincoln; Hank Jones

Name of CD: When There is Love

Composer: Washington; Carmichael

Track Label: Verve

11:54PM

They Call it Jazz

Name: Abbey Lincoln

Name of CD: It's Me

Composer: A. Lincoln

Track Label: Verve

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