Abbey Lincoln shared her idol Billie Holiday’s commitment to conveying genuine meaning through every lyric she performed. Although recognized as a dramatic artist capable of infusing her performances with honesty and depth, she initially worked as a lighthearted entertainer in supper clubs. Before adopting the name Abbey Lincoln, she performed under several other identities such as Anna Marie, Gaby Lee, and Gaby Woolridge. In 1956 she collaborated on recordings with Benny Carter, and the following year she appeared in the Hollywood motion picture The Girl Can't Help It. Her debut album among three issued by Riverside between 1957 and 1959 featured drummer Max Roach, whose influence proved significant; as a result she grew selective regarding her material and emphasized authentic emotional weight in the words. On those early sessions she matched abilities with musicians including Kenny Dorham, Sonny Rollins, Wynton Kelly, Curtis Fuller, and Benny Golson. Her contributions to Roach's Freedom Now Suite stood out for their raw and unrestrained expression. The 1961 Candid release Straight Ahead included Roach along with Booker Little, Eric Dolphy, and Coleman Hawkins, while she also participated in notable tracks on Roach’s Impulse! project Percussion Bitter Suite.
Abbey Lincoln entered into marriage with Max Roach in 1962, and their partnership continued through 1970. Although they collaborated during this period, the political content in some of her work made jazz opportunities scarce, leading her toward acting roles and a complete absence of leader sessions from 1962 until 1972. Her return came with an Inner City recording in 1973, after which her presence in jazz steadily increased. Listeners were reminded of her enduring strength by the pair of Billie Holiday tribute projects she made for Enja in 1987, and throughout the 1990s she produced several strong albums for Verve. Later releases encompassed Over the Years from 2000, It's Me in 2003, and Abbey Sings Abbey, which marked her last studio effort, in 2007. On August 14, 2010, Abbey Lincoln passed away in New York City at the age of eighty. The care she devoted to each project ensures that every recording she issued merits close attention.
