RIP.: Anna Marie Wooldridge (Abbey Lincoln) 1930 - 2010

"The great jazz singer Abbey Lincoln passed away today at the age of 80. She was truly one of the greats of the music. I always heard traces of Billie Holiday in her voice, but she had a truly unique sound and was instantly recognizable. In my view, she sometimes in her later career had one of those performance styles that younger singers miss; a certain way of being more conversational than operatic. (Think Shirley Horn or Freddie Cole, even Grady Tate ; sometimes they are more speaking than singing.) This is not to imply that she didn't have pipes; One of my favorite CDs is "When There Is Love", a duo with pianist Hank Jones, and if you listen her rendition of " I Should Care", you hear her gorgeous tone soaring with

a subtle vibrato.

Of course, her association (musically and matrimonially) with drummer Max Roach is considered historically important, especially if you check out the album "We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite". (You can hear most of it on Youtube.) It's a pretty powerful fusion of music and social protest, and Lincoln is pivotal to the suite. Her singing is deadly accurate and overwhelmingly emotional. On "Tears For Johannesburg" Lincoln's vocal virtuosity rivals Sarah Vaughn.



Abbey Lincoln was also a fine and respected composer: Her bluesy "The Music Is The Magic" is practically a standard-I've performed it with a number of singers. "Bird Alone" and "Throw It Away" are also great tunes of Lincoln's. And if you didn't know, she had an acting career: You might remember her from her brief role as Bleek Gilliam's mother in Spike Lee's "Mo' Better Blues." ...She was such a beauty in her early career. She appears in a film from 1956 called "The Girl Can't Help It", looking extremely hot... you'll see her in the famous dress which Marilyn Monroe wore in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Well, in this case, I prefer Abbey!"


Abbey Lincoln - 'Spread The Word (Spead the Gospel)'
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Finally, I wanted to add this wonderful quote from Steve Kirby:

"Abbey Lincoln was a mystic. She was a sorceress. When she ended a song with a cadenza she channeled miles as clear as the mid-day sun. Her soul lies in a smoldering cauldron of artistic passion. I can only imagine how she saw the world. I'm certain, however, that it sat in the palm of her hand. She was one of the giants."

"Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), better known by her stage name Abbey Lincoln, was a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. Lincoln was unusual in that she wrote and performed her own compositions, expanding the expectations of jazz audiences.


Abbey lincoln
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Source By George Colligan (jazztruth), Wikipedia, framb47, mickeynold - Dailymotion

The Year in Review 1999 - (My favorite memory of SCATMAN JOHN)

John Paul Larkin (March 13, 1942 – December 3, 1999), better known by his stage name Scatman John, was an American jazz musician and singer who created a fusion of scat singing and dance music, best known for his 1994 hit "Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)".
A stutterer, John liked to say scatting was a process of "turning my biggest problem into my biggest asset". Scatman John sold millions of recordings worldwide and was named "Best New Artist" in the Echo Awards in both Japan and Germany. He was a recipient of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Annie Glenn Award for outstanding service to the stuttering community and National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame."


Scatman John Scatman'S World
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Scatman John - Scatman
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Scatman John - Everybody Jam
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Source by Wikipedia, Hakunamatata67, Ryan71, Chrisgaelle and Dan_of_the_Land

Jazz great Teddy Washington dies at 78

"Teddy Washington, a Jacksonville native who played the trumpet with such giants as James Brown, B.B. King, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Dizzie Gillespie, died Tuesday night. He was 78.

Mr. Washington died at Shands Jacksonville, apparently from complications caused by a blood clot, said his manager, Ron Pathak.

Pathak called Mr. Washington “one of Jacksonville’s cultural jewels ... our own ambassador of music.”

“A kind and gentle man,” said Cindy Mosling, founder of the bird sanctuary B.E.A.K.S., for whom Mr. Washington played charity concerts for more than 20 years.

After moving back to Jacksonville in the early 1980s, Washington was best known for his involvement with the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. Inducted into the festival Hall of Fame in 2006, he performed in the festival 19 times, most recently this spring with other members of the Hall of Fame.

“Teddy was a giant,” said Dan Kosoff, who spent eight years as festival director. “He not only played for us, he brought a lot of friends. He was more than a local legend. He was absolutely respected all over the country. Everybody loved Teddy.”

Mr. Washington, who grew up in LaVilla, began playing music when he picked up a bugle at 8. Soon he switched to the trumpet.

One of his favorite stories from his musical boyhood was joining a band that included R.C. Robinson, a blind singer who was living with an aunt in LaVilla while attending the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine. R.C. Robinson went on to fame as Ray Charles.

After graduating from Old Stanton High School in 1949, Mr. Washington was drafted and played with the Army band. Back in civilian life, he toured for a time with B.B. King.

He told the Times-Union in 2007 that he was performing at the Palms, a club at 45th and Moncrief previously known as the Two Spot, when he was spotted by James Brown in the early 1960s. Brown invited Washington to join his band.

In a 1985 interview with the Times-Union, Brown said he had wanted Mr. Washington to remain with the band. “I enjoyed working with Teddy Washington,” Brown said. “... He was a very fast and a very accurate musician.”

But Mr. Washington left Brown so he could work in New York City and Miami.

In 1975, with his mother in poor health, he made the first of a series of returns to Jacksonville. But the city, once a musical hotbed, had very few jazz venues and Washington soon moved to Atlanta.

In 1979, he was involved in an automobile accident that almost derailed his musical career. He told the Times-Union in 1985 that he fractured his pelvis and tore ligaments in his right arm. As a result, he was forced to learn how to play the trumpet left-handed, an incredibly difficult transition he eventually made.

He returned to Jacksonville in 1981 and launched a cable TV show, “The Teddy Washington Show,” that lasted about five years.

In the last decade, Mr. Washington, who had an extensive collection of musical memorabilia, became increasingly interested in musical history.

Beginning in 1999, he produced a series of awards shows, called the Teddy Washington Follies, that honored those who had contributed to Jacksonville’s musical heritage.

“He really wanted to better the conditions of his fellow musicians in Jacksonville,” said his brother, Frank Washington.

In addition to his brother, who lives in Jacksonville, Mr. Washington is survived by three sons, Teddy Washington Jr., of Washington, Roderick Washington, of Los Angeles, Terry Washington, who lives in Germany, and a daughter, Mistye Washington, who lives in Atlanta, as well as eight grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete. There will be a celebration of Mr. Washington’s life at the Jacksonville Landing at a date not yet determined."

SOURCE.: BY CHARLIE PATTON, NEWS JACKSONVILLE.COM