Recent from talks
Abbey Lincoln
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Abbey Lincoln
Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering deeply felt presentations of standards, as well as writing and singing her own material.
Lincoln was born on August 6, 1930, in Chicago, but raised in Calvin Center, Cass County, Michigan. She was the tenth of 12 children. She began singing professionally in Los Angeles, California, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, using stage-names that included Gaby Lee, before eventually choosing to be known as Abbey Lincoln in 1956.
Lincoln was one of many singers influenced by Billie Holiday. Lincoln's 1956 debut album, Abbey Lincoln's Affair... A Story of a Girl in Love – with Benny Carter, Bob Russell, Marty Paitch, and Jack Montrose – was followed by a series of albums for Riverside Records. In 1960, she sang on Max Roach's landmark civil rights-themed recording We Insist! (subtitled Freedom Now Suite), "regarded as the earliest full-scale protest record in jazz", as historian Nat Hentoff observed. Lincoln's lyrics were often connected to the civil rights movement in America. In 1970, the short film Max and Abbey profiled Lincoln as a composer, vocalist, actress, writer, and activist, as well as Roach's creative partner. Stan Lathan directed the documentary, broadcast on the television program Black Journal.
After a tour of Africa in the mid-1970s, she adopted the name Aminata Moseka. During the 1980s, Lincoln's creative output was smaller and she released only a few albums. By the end of the decade, a recording of the 1934 song "For All We Know", by Lincoln accompanied only by Geri Allen on piano, was featured in the 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy. The song was part of her live repertoire, as documented on the second volume of Abbey Plays Billie, which was recorded in November of 1987, but first released the same year as the film.
During the 1990s and until her death, beginning with The World Is Falling Down, she fulfilled a 10-album contract with Verve Records. These albums are highly regarded and represent a crowning achievement in Lincoln's career. Devil's Got Your Tongue (1992) featured Rodney Kendrick, Grady Tate, Yoron Israel, J. J. Johnson, Stanley Turrentine, Babatunde Olatunji and The Staple Singers, among others. In 2003, Lincoln received a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award.
Her lyrics often reflected the ideals of the civil rights movement and helped in generating passion for the cause in the minds of her listeners. In addition to her musical career, she ventured into acting as well and appeared in movies such as The Girl Can't Help It (1958), Nothing But a Man (1964) and For Love of Ivy (1968). Lincoln explored more philosophical themes during the later years of her songwriting career and remained professionally active until well into her seventies. She often visited the Blue Note jazz club in New York City.
In 1956, Lincoln appeared in the musical comedy film The Girl Can't Help It —for which she wore an orange dress that had been worn by Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)—and interpreted "Spread the World, Spread the Gospel". Lincoln did not like what the Monroe dress symbolized about her treatment in her early career, so she set fire to the dress, destroying it.
With Ivan Dixon, she co-starred in Nothing But a Man (1964), an independent film written and directed by Michael Roemer. In 1968, she co-starred with Sidney Poitier and Beau Bridges in For Love of Ivy, and she received a 1969 Golden Globe nomination for her appearance in the film.
Hub AI
Abbey Lincoln AI simulator
(@Abbey Lincoln_simulator)
Abbey Lincoln
Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering deeply felt presentations of standards, as well as writing and singing her own material.
Lincoln was born on August 6, 1930, in Chicago, but raised in Calvin Center, Cass County, Michigan. She was the tenth of 12 children. She began singing professionally in Los Angeles, California, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, using stage-names that included Gaby Lee, before eventually choosing to be known as Abbey Lincoln in 1956.
Lincoln was one of many singers influenced by Billie Holiday. Lincoln's 1956 debut album, Abbey Lincoln's Affair... A Story of a Girl in Love – with Benny Carter, Bob Russell, Marty Paitch, and Jack Montrose – was followed by a series of albums for Riverside Records. In 1960, she sang on Max Roach's landmark civil rights-themed recording We Insist! (subtitled Freedom Now Suite), "regarded as the earliest full-scale protest record in jazz", as historian Nat Hentoff observed. Lincoln's lyrics were often connected to the civil rights movement in America. In 1970, the short film Max and Abbey profiled Lincoln as a composer, vocalist, actress, writer, and activist, as well as Roach's creative partner. Stan Lathan directed the documentary, broadcast on the television program Black Journal.
After a tour of Africa in the mid-1970s, she adopted the name Aminata Moseka. During the 1980s, Lincoln's creative output was smaller and she released only a few albums. By the end of the decade, a recording of the 1934 song "For All We Know", by Lincoln accompanied only by Geri Allen on piano, was featured in the 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy. The song was part of her live repertoire, as documented on the second volume of Abbey Plays Billie, which was recorded in November of 1987, but first released the same year as the film.
During the 1990s and until her death, beginning with The World Is Falling Down, she fulfilled a 10-album contract with Verve Records. These albums are highly regarded and represent a crowning achievement in Lincoln's career. Devil's Got Your Tongue (1992) featured Rodney Kendrick, Grady Tate, Yoron Israel, J. J. Johnson, Stanley Turrentine, Babatunde Olatunji and The Staple Singers, among others. In 2003, Lincoln received a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award.
Her lyrics often reflected the ideals of the civil rights movement and helped in generating passion for the cause in the minds of her listeners. In addition to her musical career, she ventured into acting as well and appeared in movies such as The Girl Can't Help It (1958), Nothing But a Man (1964) and For Love of Ivy (1968). Lincoln explored more philosophical themes during the later years of her songwriting career and remained professionally active until well into her seventies. She often visited the Blue Note jazz club in New York City.
In 1956, Lincoln appeared in the musical comedy film The Girl Can't Help It —for which she wore an orange dress that had been worn by Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)—and interpreted "Spread the World, Spread the Gospel". Lincoln did not like what the Monroe dress symbolized about her treatment in her early career, so she set fire to the dress, destroying it.
With Ivan Dixon, she co-starred in Nothing But a Man (1964), an independent film written and directed by Michael Roemer. In 1968, she co-starred with Sidney Poitier and Beau Bridges in For Love of Ivy, and she received a 1969 Golden Globe nomination for her appearance in the film.
Recent media