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ABBEY LINCOLN GOLDEN LADY TOTAL PLAYING TIME [42:21]
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INNER CITY RECORDS IC 1117
Sophisticated Lady Duke Ellington [7:34]
Golden Lady Stevie Wonder [8:10]
Painted Lady Aminata Moseka [4:15]
Throw It Away Aminata Moseka [6:36]
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life [9:34]
Michel Legrand/Alan & Marilyn Bergman
- see also review by Steve Arloff
Caged Bird Aminata Moseka [6:12]
Abbey Lincoln (Aminata Moseka) Vocals
Archie Shepp Tenor saxophone
Roy Burroughs Trumpet
Hilton Ruiz Piano
Jack Gregg Bass
Freddie Waits Drums
Abbey Lincoln (1930-2010) was known as The First Lady of Modern Jazz. She grew up in rural Michigan as Anna Marie Wooldridge and began singing as a teenager in dance bands around Chicago. She moved to California in 1951, and then to Hawaii where she changed her name to Gaby Lee and developed a Billie Holiday-vocal style. After returning to California she began making movies and became known as Abbey Lincoln. One of her first films was a singing role in The Girl Can’t Help It. Besides movies, Abbey had a long singing career and performed with many top jazz musicians, including Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, Mal Waldron, Stan Getz, Hank Jones and composer and drummer Max Roach, who she later married. In 1975, Abbey changed her name again and became Aminata Moseka following a trip to Africa. This album was originally released in March 1982, about midway through her career. Abbey composed three of the tunes in this collection. She wrote the marvelously dynamic Caged Bird in 1973, a song inspired by the poem by Maya Angelou. Abbey had her own unique singing style, with a big, bold alto voice, generally singing off the beat, and often disregarding pitch and phrasing formalities. Pianist Hilton Ruiz holds a steady rhythm section together on the number, while tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp and trumpeter Roy Burroughs fill in around the vocals. Sophisticated Lady was composed in 1932 by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Irving Mills and Mitchell Parish and has become a favorite of jazz artists. Abbey handles the complex vocal intervals and chord changes with innate skill and aplomb. Golden Lady was composed by Stevie Wonder and appeared on his 1973 Innervisions album. Abbey sings the slow love ballad with a cool, poignant longing, starkly offset by jazzy instrumental solo turns by the band.
This music was recorded in Paris in 1980. An 8-page booklet is included with the original liner notes. The sound quality is very good. An earlier version of this album was released in 1980 in France on the Blue Marge label as Blue Marge 1003 and titled Abbey Lincoln- In Paris/Painted Lady.
Bruce McCollum
