Abbey Is Blue

by Abbey Lincoln

Abbey Is Blue cover art

A breakthrough performance in jazz singing, Abbey Lincoln's 1959 Riverside release 'Abbey Is Blue' is a stark and harrowing exploration of sorrow and injustice. Lincoln's emotive vocals soar with deft technique throughout a selection of standards and originals dealing with themes of loss, imbuing the hard bop sound with a melancholic, blues-inflected depth. Featuring stellar contributions from jazz luminaries like Max Roach, Stanley Turrentine, and Kenny Dorham, the album stands apart from much of its contemporaries, foreshadowing the burgeoning civil rights movement with its powerful message.

Genres

  • Vocal Jazz
  • Hard Bop

Tracklist

  1. Afro Blue
  2. Lonely House
  3. Let Up
  4. Thursday's Child
  5. Brother, Where Are You?
  6. Laugh, Clown, Laugh
  7. Come Sunday
  8. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
  9. Lost In The Stars
  10. Long As You're Living