Donnerstag, 6. Februar 2020

Abbey Lincoln - Straight Ahead (1961)

Reissued several times since it originally came out on a Candid LP, this is one of Abbey Lincoln's greatest recordings.

It is a testament to the credibility of her very honest music (and her talents) that Lincoln's sidemen on this date include the immortal tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins (who takes a memorable solo on "Blue Monk"), Eric Dolphy on flute and alto, trumpeter Booker Little (whose melancholy tone is very important in the ensembles), pianist Mal Waldron, and drummer Max Roach.

Highpoints include "When Malindy Sings," "Blue Monk," Billie Holiday's "Left Alone," and "African Lady."   

Tracklist:
  1. "Straight Ahead" (Abbey Lincoln, Earl Baker, Mal Waldron) — 5:24
  2. "When Malindy Sings" (Oscar Brown, Paul Lawrence Dunbar) — 4:05
  3. "In the Red" (Chips Bayen, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach) — 8:32
  4. "Blue Monk" (Abbey Lincoln, Thelonious Monk) — 6:39
  5. "Left Alone" (Billie Holiday, Mal Waldron) — 6:48
  6. "African Lady" (Langston Hughes, Randy Weston) — 3:46
  7. "Retribution" (Abbey Lincoln, Julian Priester) — 3:50

Abbey Lincoln - Straight Ahead (1961)
(320 kbps, cover art included)        

6 Kommentare:

Feilimid O'Broin hat gesagt…

Many thanks for this. Lincoln is one of my favorite singers. I love this album and the accompanying musicians are simply incredible; however, I loved most her haunting and powerful singing on Max Roach's "We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, which still moves me greatly. Priester and Hawkins also played on that album. She was married to Roach for eight years.

Lincoln was born Anna Marie Wooldridge and initially performed under the name Gaby Lee. but, after moving to California and retaining Bob Russell as her manager, used the name Russell provided for her, Abbey Lincoln. During a visit to Africa with singer Mariam Makeba, she received the name “Aminata Moseka” from the Minister of Information for Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo)and began using it alone or added it to Abbey Lincoln. Of the name, she said “When he renamed me Moseka, and had Miriam tell me that it was a god of love in the form of a maiden, I knew I had come home” and considered it an epiphany.

Among her many accomplishments, she taught at San Fernando College (now Cal State Northridge); worked with the Mafundi Institute in Watts (“mafundi” means artisans or crafts people; that is creative people); the Watts Writers Workshop and the Brotherhood Crusade. She also acted on television and stage, wrote songs and poems, and painted. In 2003, she received the National Endowment for the Arts NEA Jazz Masters Award.

I remember watching her act in a drama aired by my home public television station WGBH in 1969 when I was a young teenager. She performed in one of ten episodes of dramas produced and performed by African-Americans. I have forgotten the drama itself but I remember being impressed by her. To me, whether one calls her Anna Marie, Gaby, Abbey, or Aminata is much less important than that one call her gifted, immensely talented, and actively involved in community work. Again, thanks.



zero hat gesagt…

Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge and memories with us! I love here work - wether as an solo artist or as the singer of the wonderful "We Insist! Freedom Now Suite". All the best.

And for other people interested: Now there´s a fresh link!

George hat gesagt…

A very nice one - thanks for posting!

zero hat gesagt…

You are welcome!

AJ hat gesagt…

Thank You..

Peace EveryTime
AJ

zero hat gesagt…

You are welcome. Stay safe!

Kommentar veröffentlichen