Abbey Lincoln (1930-2010)

Abbey Lincoln by Jos L. Knaepen Abbey Lincoln has died. Another of our great vocalists, activists, artists — gone. More than a great jazz singer, Abbey Lincoln was a woman who stood up when it was time to stand.  I remember being blown away by We Insist! (Freedom Now Suite) that she recorded with Max Roach and Oscar Brown, Jr. in 1960 to protest racism.  That project made me tune into Abbey Lincoln differently than I had.  I was excited about... Read More

Scoring Gordon

Hanging with Wycliffe in the Big Easy I first met trombonist Wycliffe Gordon in 1999 when I was the Project Director of Spirit and Splendor: A Celebration of African American Culture at the Woodruff Arts Center.  Wycliffe and a number of other Jazz at Lincoln Center musicians were to be a part of the launch for the one year initiative. Until that time I had never really paid attention to the trombone.  I wasn’t tuned in to it like I tuned... Read More