Abbey Is Blue

by Abbey Lincoln

Type: Album
Released: 1959
Label: Riverside
Country: United States
Length: 38:54
Community rating: 4.54/5 from 6 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

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

Descriptors: vocal, female-vocals, ballad, classic, bluesy

Tracklist

Credits

Abbey Lincoln - primary artist, vocals, written-by
Bob Boswell - bass
Sam Jones - bass
Harris Lewine - design [cover]
Ken Braren - design [cover]
Paul Bacon - design [cover]
"Philly" Joe Jones - drums
Max Roach - drums
Jack Higgins - engineer
Les Spann - flute, guitar
Orrin Keepnews - liner notes, producer
Jack Matthews - mastered by
Lawrence N. Shustak - photography by
Cedar Walton - piano
Phil Wright - piano
Wynton Kelly - piano
Bill Grauer - producer
Stanley Turrentine - tenor saxophone
Julian Priester - trombone, written-by
Kenny Dorham - trumpet
Tommy Turrentine - trumpet, written-by
Mongo Santamaria - written-by
Kurt Weill - written-by
Langston Hughes - written-by
Elisse Boyd - written-by
Murray Grand - written-by
Oscar Brown Jr. - written-by
Joe Young - written-by
Sam Lewis - written-by
Ted Fiorito - written-by
Duke Ellington - written-by
Oscar Hammerstein II - written-by
Sigmund Romberg - written-by
Maxwell Anderson - written-by