THE GIG

Tale of Two Rebeccas

Rebecca Martin, Becca Stevens

Cornelia Street Café, Jan. 27

What is Jazz Singing, Anyway?

Photo by Ronnie James

The new column is up at JazzTimes. Not much more to add to it here, except a handful of links that might help illuminate my point(s):

• Monk Competition UStream footage; McLorin-Salvant at 38:00.
• José James in-studio performance of “Lush Life”
• Theo Bleckmann: review and audio of a recent concert

Oh, and it has come to my attention that some readers are missing the allusion to Justice Potter Stewart, which prompted my favorite offhanded line in the piece. If that means you, lookee here.

If It’s Magic

Critics’ Choice: New CDs

Cassandra Wilson, “Silver Pony”

 

Imitation of a Reunion

Brian Harkin for The New York Times

The Jazz Passengers

Jazz Standard, Sept. 29

Only Smoke

Critics’ Choice: New CDs

Jane Monheit, “Home”

And Dream of Sheep

Angela Jimenez for The New York Times

Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush

Le Poisson Rouge, Sept. 22

Update: Hear the entire concert courtesy of WQXR

Own What's Yours

Choice quote from the Marc Cary blindfold test (Before & After) in the new JazzTimes, conducted by Larry Appelbaum:

[Betty Carter] was a trouper. She would ride with us in coach. It taught me a certain cohesiveness you have to have. Abbey [Lincoln] would ride in first class and we’d be in second class and she would come back and tell us how terrible first class was. She’d complain that they took the silverware out of first class and she had to use plastic cups -- oh, and how you all doing back here? Betty wasn’t like that. They both understood the business. I learned the etiquette of being a jazz musician from Betty. From Abbey, I learned you have to own what’s yours.

(I don’t think, by the way, this casts aspersions on Abbey Lincoln. It’s just a different look. Obviously both singers were truly great.)

Lands of Lincoln

In Saturday’s Arts section: a critic’s notebook about the legacy of Abbey Lincoln, inspired partly by a coincidence of timing. (You’ll know what I mean if you read the notebook.) I compiled some other links in my previous post about Lincoln, days after her passing. But in the process of pulling this new piece together, I came across a few stray gems of footage or criticism, which I’m gathering here.

Music is the Magic

RIP Abbey Lincoln. Belatedly, here are some links -- and this video, which I had never seen before, from Night Music. (I didn’t want to post clips from the Freedom Now Suite, which are awesome but from a time before Lincoln herself had reached her fearsome maturity as an artist. No, I don’t think the presence of David Sanborn above is a sacrilege.)

• NY Times obituary
• NPR Weekend Edition remembrance
• NPR Jazz Profiles audio archive
• Do the Math on “the middle period”
• Rifftides with two more clips
• The Guardian obituary
  

In addition to the Times obituary above, I wrote a profile of Abbey Lincoln in 2007, before I started this blog. She was a tough but gracious interview, and already not in the best of health. There’s an audio accompaniment to that link, including some of our conversation.

Please feel free to share tributes and more links in the comments.

Eclipsed

 Critics’ Choice: New CDs

“Twilight: Eclipse Soundtrack”

 

Sachal Vasandani

Joe’s Pub, June 2