Anyone who has followed Abbey Lincoln’s career with any regularity understands that she has followed a fiercely individual path and has paid the cost for those choices. Through the Years is a cross-licensed, three-disc retrospective expertly compiled and assembled by the artist and her longtime producer, Jean-Philippe Allard. Covering more than 50 years in her storied career, it establishes from the outset that Lincoln was always a true jazz singer and unique stylist. Though it contains no unreleased material, it does offer the first true picture of he range of expression. Her accompanists include former husband Max Roach, Benny Carter, Kenny Dorham, Charlie Haden, Sonny Rollins, Wynton Kelly, Benny Golson, J.J. Johnson, Art Farmer, Stan Getz, and Hank Jones, to name scant few.
Disc one commences with “This Can’t Be Love” from 1956; one of the best-known tunes off her debut album, arranged and conducted by Golson. But the story begins to change immediately with "I Must Have That Man" with her fronting the Riverside Jazz All-Stars in 1957. Tracks from It’s Magic, Abbey Is Blue, and Straight Ahead are here, and the story moves ahead chronologically and aesthetically all the way to 1984. But there are also big breaks stylistically, with her primal performance on “Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace” from We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite in 1960 and the amazing “Lonesome Lover” from It’s Time: Max Roach and His Orchestra and Choir in 1962, which is where her story takes its first recording break. It picks up in 1973 with "Africa" from People in Me. It breaks again until 1980, with “Throw It Away” off the beautiful Painted Lady, and continues through appearances with Cedar Walton and Sun Ra. There is another break in the narrative between discs one and two, commencing again in 1990 with the issue of the brilliant The World Is Falling Down on Verve when she began her association with Allard and recorded regularly. This disc contains a dozen tracks all recorded between 1990 and 1992. Disc three commences in 1995 and goes straight through to 2007. The latter two discs reflect the periods when Lincoln finally assumed her rightful status as a true jazz icon; individual track performances from standards to self-written tunes and folk songs are all done in her inimitable style and are well-known to fans. This set is gorgeously compiled and sequenced. As a listen, Through the Years is literally astonishing in its breadth and depth. It establishes her commitment to artistic freedom, and her fierce dedication to discipline, song, and performance. The box features liners by Gary Giddins, and great photographs, as well as stellar sound quality.
Larry Campbell, Pat Metheny (guitar); Maxine Roach (viola); Eric Dolphy (bass clarinet); Jackie McLean, Steve Coleman (alto saxophone); Clifford Jordan, Coleman Hawkins, David Liebman, Joe Lovano, Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz , Stanley Turrentine, Benny Golson, Bob Berg, Julien Lourau (tenor saxophone); Clark Terry, Kenny Dorham, Roy Hargrove, Art Farmer, Tommy Turrentine, Booker Little (trumpet); Julien Priester, J.J. Johnson (trombone); Hank Jones , Hilton Ruiz, James Weidman , Kenny Barron, Alain Jean-Marie, Mal Waldron, Marc Cary, Rodney Kendrick, Wynton Kelly, Bheki Mseleku, Cedar Walton (piano); Bobby Hutcherson (marimba); Michael Bowie, Paul Chambers, Scott Colley, Art Davis, Ray Drummond, Charlie Haden, Sam Jones, Christian McBride, David Williams (bass); Freddie Waits, Grady Tate, Mark Johnson , Al Foster, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones, Victor Lewis, Shawn Pelton, Billy Higgins (drums); James Mtume, Jerry Gonzalez, Babatunde Olatunji (percussion).
Disc 1:
01. This Can't Be Love
02. Don't Explain
03. I Must Have That Man
04. Little Niles
05. Let Up
06. Come Sunday
07. Triptych : Prayer / Protest / Peace
08. Left Alone
09. Lonesome Lover
10. Africa
11. Throw It Away
12. The Maestro
13. The River
Disc 2:
01. The World is Falling Down
02. You Must Believe In Spring and Love
03. First Song
04. Bird Alone
05. I'm In Love
06. A Time For Love
07. Jungle Queen
08. A Child is Born
09. You Came a Long Way From St. Louis
10. I Should Care
11. Through the Years
12. When I'm Called Home
Disc 3:
01. Avec Le Temps
02. Mr. Tambourine Man
03. Love Has Gone Away
04. And It's Supposed To Be Love
05. Should've Been
06. Nature Boy
07. Windmills of Your Mind
08. Skylark
09. It's Me, O' Lord (Standin' In the Need of Prayer)
10. Blue Monk
11. The Music is the Magic
12. Down Here Below
