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One of jazz music's most prolific voices over the past half century has gone silent.Singer/songwriter Abbey Lincoln died Saturday, Aug. 14. She was 80.
While not as known to the mainstream as her contemporaries such as Nancy Wilson and the late Nina Simone, Lincoln was well-revered by jazz purists and music aficionados keyed into her phrasing, emotion and signature style.
Born Anna Marie Wooldridge in 1930, she was the 10th of 12 children of a handyman in rural Calvin Center, Michigan. Drawing influence from Billie Holiday, she discovered music at an early age, teaching herself piano and how to sing.
Working as a maid during her teenage years, Lincoln played nightclubs and supper clubs in Honolulu and Los Angeles, respectively, in the early 1950, under the names Gaby Wooldridge and Gabby Lee.
A working association with be-bop music pioneer Max Roach in 1957 led to a whirlwind romance and an eventual marriage that would last eight years (1962-1970). During her years with Roach, Lincoln transformed into a conscience civil rights activist, shedding the sexy, sophisticated image that became commonplace among black female vocalists of the era.
During the 1960s, her exceptional acting talent was brought to the forefront with vehicles such as the 1956 comedy 'The Girl Can't Help It,' the 1964 independent romantic film, 'Nothing But a Man,' and 'For The Love of Ivy' (1968).
Lincoln's leading role --playing opposite Sidney Poitier -- as Ivy Moore in the Daniel Mann-directed romantic comedy/drama landed her a Golden Globe Award nomination.
After her marriage to Roach ended, Lincoln recorded sporadically on independent jazz labels throughout the 1970s and '80s. Work as an actress, however, proved to be more substantive; she appeared on television shows including 'Mission Impossible,' 'Marcus Welby, M.D.' and 'All in The Family.' In 1990, she portrayed Lillian Gilliams - the mother of Bleek (played by Denzel Washington) in Spike Lee's 'Mo' Betta Blues.'
In the 1990s, Lincoln reclaimed her glory as a premier jazz diva with her longtime recording contract with Verve Records. She would release a total of 11 albums on the storied jazz label - her last opus, 'Abbey Sings Abbey,' found the singer revisiting some of her previously recorded works. "Wow, she was fearless and uninhibited," Lincoln's Verve label mate Ledisi told Black Voices today. "When I signed with the label, she was the one artist I really wanted to meet ... I love her music, her paintings, her raw views as an activist and her passion about life."
A number of artists have put their own spin on Lincoln's original compositions: Some include Nina Simone ('Blues For Mama'), Louis Armstrong (Naturally), Cassandra Wilson ('Throw It All Away') and Ayo ('And It's Supposed to Be Love').
Wilson told The New York Times: "I learned a lot about taking a different path from Abbey. Investing your lyrics with what your life is about in the moment."
In 2003, the National Endowment for the Arts recognized her with its Jazz Masters Award, the nation's highest jazz honor.
Lincoln would continue to perform at select jazz festivals and prominent jazz clubs around the country, most notably New York City's fabled Blue Note Jazz Club.
In recent years, she had been declining in health. Lincoln was a patient of heart surgeons Dr. Daniel Swistel and Dr. Sandhya Balaram at New York's St. Luke's Hospital in 2007.
Her death was confirmed to media outlets by friend and filmmaker Carol Friedman, who reportedly has been working on a documentary on her life.
"She was the last of the Billie [Holiday], Sarah ['Vaughn'] and Carmen [McRae] generations," Ledisi added. "Her legacy will live on like all the great ones. I hear them all in voices such as Patti Austin, Dianne Reeves and of course Chaka Khan."