A editora Candid original durou apenas 4 anos, de 1960 até 1964, mas os seus 30 e poucos discos desempenharam um papel relevante na integração musical da época, maioritariamente jazz mas também blues, com o emergente movimento dos direitos civis. A Candid tornou-se lendária, nascida em 1960 devido ao amor de Archie Bleyer pelo jazz e blues que motivou estas edições produzidas por Nat Hentoff.

• Masterização Totalmente Analógica
• Masterizado por Bernie Grundman
• Corte directo a partir das Fitas Master Originais
• Capa Deluxe tip-on
• Vinil 180 Gramas
• Processamento acetato na RTI, USA
• Anotações de 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.

Músicos:

Abbey Lincoln - voz
Eric Dolphy - sopros
Coleman Hawkins - tenor saxofone
Walter Benton - tenor saxofone
Booker Little - trompete
Julian Priester - trombone
Mal Waldron - piano
Art Davis - baixo
Max Roach - bateria
Roger Sanders - congas
Robert Whitley - congas

Lista de Faixas:

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

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