As artists, we are drawn to heroes that came before us. I recently recorded a composition called “Love Lament” (written by R.B. Lynch) that is heard on Abbey Lincoln’s 1997 album We Used to Dance and I could never tire of hearing her sing the piece again and again. She sang with intention, her voice was beautiful, and she had such a distinct timbre that her voice is easily recognizable.
Abbey Lincoln was a brilliant and unique artist that most of my students probably do not know about. Her New York Times obituary provides a portrait of her life, but I think there are some aspects of her life story that I wish to highlight to provide an even deeper understanding of how she forged her own unique identity.
We musicians tend to focus on remembering her singing and her social activism, but she was also a composer and award-winning actress.
Early Life
She was born as Anna Marie Wooldridge in Chicago on August 6, 1930. Generally, in the history of jazz, the trajectory was for musicians to move to New York City. Instead, Abbey Lincoln went west — she started as a nightclub singer in Honolulu when she was in her early 20s. A few years later—in her mid-20s—she relocated to Los Angeles and met her agent.
At this time, she settled on the name Abbey Lincoln—the combination of the names Westminster Abbey and Abraham Lincoln. Westminster Abbey is of course the London church that hosts the weddings of the royal family. The choice of a royal name is similar to Edward Kennedy Ellington becoming “Duke” Ellington or Lester Young being “Prez” (President). She chose her name Lincoln because Abraham Lincoln is always remembered as the emancipator. We would all be challenged to choose a name that is as strong and meaningful as what Abbey Lincoln chose.
Glamour
Abbey Lincoln’s first film appearance was in 1956 — a film called “The Girl Can’t Help It.” In this scene, she wore the same dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
Her first album “Affair…A Story of a Girl in Love” (1956) and her second album “That’s Him” (1957) featured her glamourous appearance on the album covers.
The personnel for “That’s Him” is extraordinary — Sonny Rollins on saxophone, Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Max Roach on drums. These musicians were already established as superstars.
At this time, Abbey Lincoln became romantically involved with (and later married to) Max Roach. Max Roach was not only a pioneer of the bebop style, but he was very attuned to activism. This was the time when the civil rights movement was heating up in the United States and equal rights was at the center of Abbey Lincoln’s next big project.
Intersectionality in the life of Abbey Lincoln
In short, intersectionality refers to the cumulative effects of discrimination and how multiple forms of discrimination can combine to marginalize an individual. This was especially relevant to Abbey Lincoln because not only was she a Black person and a female, but she became increasingly aware that she was also being objectified.
The June 1957 Ebony magazine published a photo of Abbey Lincoln in the Marilyn Monroe dress along with her measurements. Lincoln felt that her glamorous image had become commodified, and as a result, she burned the dress.
Freedom Now
Max Roach’s Freedom Now was a project that included Lincoln and lyricist Oscar Brown. Initially, the intention was for the project to commemorate the 1963 centennial of emancipation but was released in 1960 because of the urgency of the civil rights movement.
For those of you who are not avid jazz listeners or seasoned aficionado, I can highlight why this recording was considered “avant-garde:”
—the piece does not follow a melody—solo—melody format
—the piece breaks down into solos and trios within
—there are different sections of the piece that happen at different tempos
—the lyrics of Driva Man were powerful
This piece starts with solo piano with bass accompaniment, which is interjected by a drum solo, a short bass solo, then a short interlude of a saxophone quoting Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady,” and then a short vocal rendition of Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale.” This is all two-minute introduction to the piece “Driva Man:”
“Driva Man” Lyrics
Driva'man he made a life
But the Mamie ain't his wife
Choppin' cotton, don't be slow
Better finish out your row
Keep a-movin' with that plow
Driva'man'll show ya how
You get to work and root that stump
Driva'man'll make ya jump
Better make your hammer ring
Driva'man'll start to swing
Ain't but two things on my mind
Driva'man quittin' time
Criticism and Alienation
Abbey Lincoln states in her interviews in the book Black Music, White Business that the Freedom Now (1960) and Straight Ahead (1961) albums were so controversial that record labels would not work with her for many years afterward. Even Ira Gitler, the DownBeat critic, said horrendous things about Lincoln: her music was “blackly authentic” and he wished she could be “militant but less one-sided.”
She did have two important film roles in the 1960s. First, she appeared in the film “Nothing But a Man” and even won a New Cinema Award, but the film struggled to get wide distribution and was not widely seen. She was a nominee for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in the 1969 film “For Love of Ivy,” which also starred Sidney Poitier:
The Storyteller and Songwriter
In 1972, she was given honorary titles from political officials in Zaire and Guinea—and she took on the names given to her: Aminata Moseka. She began to think of herself as a storyteller and songwriter and it is this identity that she carried for the final 25 years of her life—including more than 15 albums.
Her “Abbey Sings Billie” project remains an extremely popular release. This rendition of “Gloomy" Sunday” is riveting because of the depth of the timbre of her voice, the expressivity as she delivers the melody and the dramatic interplay between all of the members of the band.
She truly is one of the great storytellers in the history of jazz.