''Abbey Is Blue'' is the fourth album by American jazz vocalist

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist and songwriter. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering dee ...

featuring tracks recorded in 1959 for the Riverside label.Riverside Records discography
accessed September 13, 2012

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

awarded the album 4½ stars, with the review by

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

stating: "Abbey Lincoln is quite emotional and distinctive during a particularly strong set... very memorable".Yanow, Scott
AllMusic Review
accessed September 13, 2012. ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' also gave the album 4½ stars, with David Rickert calling it "a breakthrough performance in jazz singing", and observing: "With the civil rights movement looming over the horizon, no longer did singers need to stick with standards and

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

tunes and could truly sing about subjects that mattered to them. Lincoln picked up

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

's skill at inhabiting the lyrics of a song and projecting its emotional content outward, and these songs, all of which deal with sorrow, are stark and harrowing accounts of loss and injustice."Rickert, David
"Abbey Lincoln: Abbey Is Blue"
''

'', October 16, 2005. Chris Ingalls of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' commented: "The choice of compositions is consistently interesting... and stands apart from so much of the music released during this time... Lincoln was intent on infusing the album with elements of civil rights issues so important to her then and throughout the rest of her life, and it doesn't hurt that her vocals on these standards absolutely soar with emotion and deft technique."

Track listing

# "

Afro Blue "Afro Blue" is a jazz standard composed by Mongo Santamaría. Santamaria version Mongo Santamaria recorded his composition "Afro Blue" in 1959 when playing with the Cal Tjader Sextet. The first recorded performance was on April 20, 1959, at ...

" (

Mongo Santamaría Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez (April 7, 1917 – February 1, 2003) was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga an ...

Oscar Brown Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, actor, and civil rights activist (Brown was African-American). Brown discovered The Jackson 5. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully ...

) - 3:20 # " Lonely House" (

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

) - 3:40 # "Let Up" (Abbey Lincoln) - 5:32 # "Thursday's Child" (Elisse Boyd, Murray Grand) - 3:31 # "Brother, Where Are You?" (Oscar Brown) - 3:10 # " Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (

Ted Fio Rito Theodore Salvatore Fiorito (December 20, 1900 – July 22, 1971),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 95. known professionally a ...

, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young) - 5:24 # "

Come Sunday "Come Sunday" is a sacred jazz piece by Duke Ellington that has become a jazz standard. It was written as a part of the first movement of a suite entitled ''Black, Brown and Beige''. History Ellington was engaged for a performance at Carnegi ...

" (

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

) - 5:13 # "

Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" is a song with music by Sigmund Romberg and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II from the 1928 operetta '' The New Moon''. One of the best-known numbers from the show, it is a song of bitterness and yearning for a lost ...

" (

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Award ...

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his Musical theatre, musicals and operettas, particularly ''The Student Prince'' (1924), ''The Desert Song'' (1926) and ''The New Moo ...

) - 2:46 # "

Lost in the Stars ''Lost in the Stars'' is a musical theatre, musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1948) by Alan Paton. The musical premiered on Broadway theatre, Broadway in 19 ...

" (

Maxwell Anderson James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist. Anderson faced many challenges in his career, frequently losing jobs for expressing his opinions or supporting ...

, Kurt Weill) - 4:11 # "Long as You're Living" (Oscar Brown,

Julian Priester Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935) is an American jazz trombonist and occasional euphoniumist. He is sometimes credited "Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto". He has played with Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Biog ...

Tommy Turrentine Thomas Walter Turrentine, Jr. (April 22, 1928 – May 13, 1997) was a swing and hard bop trumpeter and composer who was active between the 1940s and the 1960s. He rarely worked as a bandleader, and was known for his work as a sideman with d ...

) - 2:33

Personnel

* Abbey Lincoln - vocals *

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and occasional singer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention ...

(tracks 2, 4, 7-9),

(tracks 1, 3, 6, 10) - trumpet *

- trombone (tracks 1, 3, 6, 10) *

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and record producer. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note Reco ...

- tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 6, 10) * Les Spann - guitar (tracks 2, 4, 7-9), flute (track 5) *

Wynton Kelly Wynton Charles Kelly (December 2, 1931 – April 12, 1971) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He is known for his lively, blues-based playing and as one of the finest accompanists in jazz. He began playing professionally at the age of 1 ...

(tracks 2, 4, 5),

Cedar Walton Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and c ...

(tracks 3, 6), Phil Wright (tracks 7-9) - piano * Bobby Boswell (tracks 1, 3, 6, 10), Sam Jones (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7-9) - bass *

Philly Joe Jones Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American Jazz drumming, jazz drummer. Biography Early career As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio stat ...

(tracks: 2, 4, 5, 7-9),

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

(tracks: 1, 3, 6, 10) - drums

References

{{Authority control 1959 albums Abbey Lincoln albums Albums produced by Orrin Keepnews Riverside Records albums