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"Wholly Earth"
Abbey Lincoln's follow-up to the well-received
Verve release Who Used to Dance finds the singer stretching her
sweet and sour vocals and exquisitely languorous phrasing over
a set of (mostly) original material. Joined by the likes of Bobby
Hutcherson on vibes and marimba and Nicholas Payton on trumpet
and flügelhorn, Wholly Earth is wholly Abbey Lincoln --romance
buffered by heartbreak tragedy; idealism diffused by real-life
pitfalls; striking beauty windblown by brief shadows and sad
downpours. On the title cut she is swept away by joy while "Caged
Bird" is a melancholy shuffle and "And It's Supposed
to Be Love" is a romantic tearjerker. Abbey can express
so many moods--some just by the mere sound of her voice--is testament
to her tremendous talents. That a record like Wholly Earth is
large enough to contain all she has to offer is testament to
its remarkable success. --S. Duda |
....
Reviewer: Bill Eckert from Plainfield,
NH.
Lincoln's A Turtle's Dream was my introduction to her art, and
I highly recommend it. But Wholly Earth is more honest, less
cute, and artistically whole. To call 'And It's Supposed to Be
Love' a romantic tear jerker (see Amazon's review) is way off.
Listen (read if you must) the words, and you'll know what this
is about. But it's not melodramatic, just up-front honest. 'Midnight
Sun' is a beautiful arrangement, 'Another World' has it's own
space and tempo that fits Abbey (who wrote it) just right. It
fits beautifully with 'Another Time, Another Place' two cuts
later. 'If I Only Had a Brain' is a lot of fun, but holds something
deeper than we knew back in Oz. Abbey's 'Learning How to Listen'
sums it all up. Abbey - thanks for helping me learn how to listen. |
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