You Gotta Pay the Band

ABBEY LINCOLN HAD AN ATTITUDE---IT COMES THRU ON THIS CD. FIRST SAW HER AT POWER CENTER, ANN ARBOR. [I FELT LET DOWN---I WAS EXPECTING CARMEN MACRAE--WHO CHECKED OUT--ILL] BUT---WHAT AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT. ABBEY WROTE SOME GREAT STUFF. AND SHE SINGS-----NOT SCREAM---NOT OVERMIKED. SHE JUST LET IT OUT. AND WHEN SHE WAS DONE--THE SONGS BECAME MY SONG. ' GOTTA PAY THE BAND' SPOKE TO ME---A BAGPIPER---AND A MAN. 'BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME'----FINALLY SOUNDED AS THOUGH SOMEONE WAS HEARING THE LYRICS. AT THE START THEY TRIED TO MAKE A SVELTIE OUT OF HER. CLINGING GOWNS--ETC---THEN SHE BECAME HERSELF. NOT JUST SOME SONGS----MORE SOME ANTHEMS. HERM STEINMAN A2-

Excellent purchase, excellent music & excellent quality!

Very good

Not that many perfect recordings out there. This is one of them. Stan Getz and all other contributing artists are at their best, as is the "sound" of the recording.

A group of consummate pros works here with Abbey Lincoln to produce a jazz album that is polished but sometimes playful, and emotional but never careless, with six songs written by Lincoln. Stan Getz on sax is at the top of his form in what turned out to be his last recorded album. Hank Jones on piano adds a sense of romance and sometimes mystery with his frequent (wonderful) solos, and Charlie Haden on bass and Mark Johnson on drums provide the beat. On two songs, "Bird Alone" and "A Time for Love," Maxine Roach adds a haunting viola.Lincoln's voice, clearly influenced by Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith, may be an acquired taste--reedy, sometimes a little bit "blatty," and lacking sweetness--but she is an actress with a song, and her passion and oneness with her lyrics give her a unique sound that enables her to convey the essence of the music, becoming an interpreter and poet rather than simply a singer."Bird Alone" is a song of mystery, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," a song of sorrow, and "You Made Me Funny," a "talk-story"--an eerily spoken Lincoln soliloquy, full of contrasts. With "And How I Hoped for Your Love," she branches out into a bossa nova beat, while the magnificent "When I'm Called Home" is a wrenching ballad of loss and missed opportunities. Lincoln sings many of these songs in a minor key, while the solos by Getz and Hank Jones are often more upbeat and bring the music into happier realms in major keys. With a timbre the same as that of Getz's sax, Lincoln's voice becomes one with the sounds of her musicians and allows all of them to soar. n Mary Whipple

I heard Bird Alone years ago and have been searching for the album that it is on and it is one that we play repeatedly, always noticing something that hadn't been clear before, we have it in our home in the mountains and sit with the skies and the night and just listen to it. As someone mentioned, it may be Stan Getz's best album - but all the personnel are wonderful - Hank Jones is a joy to listen to, Charlie Haden show his subtlety and keeps things moving along. Abbey Lincoln is jazz singer who lets her band shine, works around them and doesn't sound "pushy". Singers who can mobilize great bands - and pay them - are a joy. Cassandra Wilson, Tony Bennett, Kurt Elling and many others are as good as their bands, and they know it. So do we. One can say "favorites" for an album (what album doesn't have highs and lows) but each song has great, resounding riffs that are terrific. It is a desert island album for sure.

I have to admit that I bought this album because I am a fan of almost anything that Charlie Haden is associated with, but after hearing the album when it first was released, I was enthralled by Getz's playing. To hear him in one of his last recording sessions in such great form and recorded in a more pristine modern recording is a treat. His playing is exquisite and very lyrical...nothing extraneous. Abbey Lincoln may not be the quintessential jazz vocalist as her vocals are a bit flat at times with limited range, but she is passionate and tells a good story. I appreciate her precise enunciation of which others have complained as that is missing in most recordings one hears today. I also enjoy the playing of Hank Jones....tasteful and beautiful. Also check out "Steal Away" with Haden and Jones which is also a treat.

I've owned this album since if first came out - I still love it. I happened to have listened to it last night as I drifted to sleep (and this afternoon learned of Ms Lincoln's passing). Gorgeous songs, playing, singing.

I'd heard a track from this album played on Jazz Record Requests and immediately looked on-line to find the album details. I have to admit that while I love Abbey Lincoln's singing my principal reason for buying was because it was almost the last recording Stan Getz made, shortly before his death. This was recorded in a New York studio before he flew to Copenhagen to record 'People Time' live with only Kenny Barron on piano, his last album. I have a vast collection of Stan's recordings and I rate his last as very close to the best, if not the best. Perhaps he was aware he didn't have long to live and put all his emotional feelings into the way he played. This recording is equally good with Stan at his lyrical best and the added bonus for me of Abbey's singing. Three tracks in particular appealed to me, 'Bird Alone', 'Brother Can You Spare a Dime' and 'When I'm Called Home' but there isn't a single track I'm not enthusiastic about. With backing, and some solos, from Hank Jones on piano along with Charlie Haden on bass, Mark Johnson on drums and Maxine Roach playing viola on two tracks, this is an album to treasure for all Stan Getz afficionados and for fans of Abbey Lincoln too.

Abbey Lincoln is out on her own. Every word comes from her heart and gut. She has found her authentic voice which is not tailored to any mainstream record company's idea of what Jazz should be. There are no cliches here - you know she is singing her life. The band is pretty good too.

Abbey Lincoln hat mit diesem Album ihre beste Aufnahme abgeliefert. Mit ihrer rauhen Stimme trägt sie ruhig und nachdrücklich eine besondere Auswahl von Stücken vor, die man teilweise immerzu hören möchte. Mein »Ohrwurm« ist das Lied »Brother, can you spare a dime«. Stan Getz ist die perfekte Ergänzung.