The original Candid label lasted a mere four years, from 1960 to 1964, but its 30-some LPs played a worthy role in fusing the period's music, mainly modern jazz but also blues, with the burgeoning civil rights movement. Candid achieved legendary status, the series was born in 1960 when Archie Bleyer decided to indulge his love of jazz and blues and create his own releases, produced by Nat Hentoff.

• All Analog Mastering
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman
• Cut Directly From The Original Master Tapes
• Deluxe tip-on cover
• 180 Gram Vinyl
• Plating at RTI, USA
• Liner notes by Nat Hentoff
• Made in USA

The original Candid record label lasted a mere four years, from 1960 to '64, and its 30-some LPs played a worthy role in fusing the period's music — mainly modern jazz but also blues — with the burgeoning civil rights movement.

The American Candid label has achieved a near legendary status among the critics and the International jazz and blues public. The series was born in 1960 when Archie Bleyer, owner of the Cadence label decided to indulge his love of jazz and blues and create his own line — called Candid. Bleyer recruited Hentoff to produce the series.

Abbey Lincoln's Straight Ahead was her fifth solo album but her debut for Candid, and co-incidentally, one of her greatest recordings. Her sidemen on this date included the immortal tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, who takes a memorable solo on "Blue Monk", Eric Dolphy on flute and alto, trumpeter Booker Little (whose melancholy tone is very important in the ensembles), pianist Mal Waldron and drummer Max Roach (her husband from 1962 to 1970).

"If you drew a line with Ella, Dianne Reeves et al on one side and Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and the like on the other, Lincoln firmly sides with the latter: jazz singing with negligible pop or crossover content. This 1961 session with geniuses like Eric Dolphy, Coleman Hawkins and Booker Little is a stunner. Its subtlety begs for vinyl playback." – Hi Fi News

Abbey Lincoln’s distinctive vocal style, thought-provoking writing, and spirited personality has secured her a place among the jazz greats. Though she made her first recording for Riverside, and later in life for Verve, it was with the young and audacious Candid Records that she made her biggest musical statement, 1961’s Straight Ahead.

Straight Ahead is one of Abbey Lincoln’s greatest and most important recordings. A testament to her credibility and talents, the section on this album includes saxophone giant Colman Hawkins, the great Eric Dolphy on reeds, trumpeter Booker Little, pianist Mal Waldron and the iconic drummer Max Roach.

In the autumn of 1960, Lincoln participated in a recording session with Max Roach that would change the trajectory of her life and career. Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, one of the most ambitious avant-garde jazz pieces of all time, and one of the most important artistic statements of the Civil Rights Movement.

The following year, with most of the same line up of musicians from the We Insist! sessions, Lincoln recorded Straight Ahead, finally putting on tape the Abbey Lincoln she had long wanted to be. “I’m not holding back anymore” Lincoln said at the time. “It’s a hell of a good feeling to come out into the light.”

The album showcases the power and emotional range of Lincoln’s singing and her vividly persona timbre and phrasing. Her explicit emotionalism and liberties with pitching and intonation push her intentions and execution to the verge of separation – contemporary acquaintances including Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus were also expanding her ideas and technical ambitions – but Lincoln sounds nonetheless like an artist inhabiting a musical world increasingly her own.

The LP includes extraordinary liner notes written by Nat Hentoff himself, giving a context and insight that adds to the experience of hearing these magnificent performances.

Musicians:

Abbey Lincoln - vocals
Eric Dolphy - reeds
Coleman Hawkins - tenor saxophone
Walter Benton - tenor saxophone
Booker Little - trumpet
Julian Priester - trombone
Mal Waldron - piano
Art Davis - bass
Max Roach - drums
Roger Sanders - conga drums
Robert Whitley - conga drums

Track Listing:

1. Sraight Ahead
2. When Malindy Sings
3. In the Red
4. Blue Monk
5. Left Alone
6. African Lady
7. Retribution

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫