Who Used to Dance
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Who Used to Dance
| type = album
| artist = Abbey Lincoln
| cover = Abbey_Lincoln_Who_Used_to_Dance.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1997
| recorded = April and May 1996
| venue =
| studio = Clinton Recording Studios, New York City
| genre = Jazz
| length = 1:01:05
| label = Verve, Gitanes Jazz
533 559-2
| producer = Jean-Philippe Allard
| chronology = Abbey Lincoln
| prev_title = A Turtle's Dream
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = Wholly Earth
| next_year = 1999
}}
Who Used to Dance is an album by jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln. It was recorded during April and May, 1996, at Clinton Recording Studios in New York City, and was released in 1997 by Verve Records and Gitanes Jazz Productions. On the album, Lincoln is joined by a core group of pianist Marc Cary, double bassist Michael Bowie, and drummer Aaron Walker, as well as saxophonists Riley T. Bandy III, Steve Coleman, Oliver Lake, Frank Morgan, Justin Robinson, and Julien Lourau, cornetist Graham Haynes, pianist Rodney Kendrick, double bassist John Ormond, drummers Alvester Garnett and Taru Alexander, vocalists Arthur Green and Bazzi Bartholomew Gray, and tap dancer Savion Glover.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/who-used-to-dance-mw0000019682 |title=Abbey Lincoln: Who Used to Dance |first=Scott |last=Yanow |website=AllMusic |access-date=June 18, 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/album/abbey-lincoln/who-used-to-dance |title=Abbey Lincoln - Who Used to Dance |website=Jazz Music Archives |access-date=June 18, 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://jazzdiscography.com/Artists/Lincoln/al-disc.php |title=Abbey Lincoln Discography |date=February 2, 2023 |website=JazzDiscography.com |access-date=June 18, 2024}}
Reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev2 = MusicHound Jazz
| rev2Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last1=Holtje |first1=Steve |last2=Lee |first2=Nancy Ann |title=MusicHound: The Essential Album Guide |publisher=Schirmer |year=1998 |pages=710 }}
| rev3 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz
| rev3Score = {{rating|3.5|4}}{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2004 |pages=998 }}
| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide
| rev4Score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |editor-last=Swenson |editor-first=John |title=The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide |publisher=Random House |year=1999 |pages=426 }}
| rev5 = The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz
| rev5Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |editor-last=Larkin |editor-first=Colin |title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz |publisher=Virgin Books |year=2004 |pages=538 }}
}}
In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow called the album "an interesting but not overly essential outing," and wrote: "Lincoln... still had a reasonably strong voice at this point in her career, and although she showed signs of mellowing now and then, she was still capable of performing fiery musical statements."
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings singled out the title track for praise, stating that it is "intriguing in that it features tap-dancer Savion Glover, a young man in the great tradition of jazz hoofers, but with moves all his own; don't dismiss the concept out of hand - it works."
Billboard's Jim Macnie included the album in his top 10 releases of 1997, and commented: "She's got the whole world in her head, and its frayed condition troubles her. She's also got art in her heart, so her worries never fail to compel."{{cite magazine |last=Macnie |first=Jim |date=December 27, 1997 |title=Jazz: Blue Notes |magazine=Billboard |pages=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0g0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA78}}
Jim Santella of All About Jazz remarked: "the singer maintains her own distinctive manner of delivering a lyric. Seven of the nine tracks... are ballads that serve to demonstrate the graininess in Lincoln's voice, the long, tied-together whole note phrases, and the carefully articulated words... Recommended."{{cite web |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/who-used-to-dance-abbey-lincoln-verve-music-group-review-by-jim-santella |title=Abbey Lincoln: Who Used To Dance |first=Jim |last=Santella |date=January 1, 1998 |website=All About Jazz |access-date=June 20, 2024}}
A writer for the Hartford Courant wrote: "Lincoln... has a mesmerizing voice — one of the most seductive sounds in jazz or pop. At the same time, she delivers a tune with a theatrical skill far surpassing many highly acclaimed cabaret singers... [she] is given regal backing throughout."{{cite web |url=https://www.courant.com/1997/06/05/who-used-to-dance-abbey-lincoln/ |title=Who Used To Dance - Abbey Lincoln |date=June 5, 1997 |website=Hartford Courant |access-date=June 20, 2024}}
Track listing
- "Love Has Gone Away" (Abbey Lincoln) – 7:36
- "Who Used to Dance" (Abbey Lincoln) – 9:40
- "Love Lament" (Richard Berry Lynch) – 7:11
- "Mr. Tambourine Man" (Bob Dylan) – 6:53
- "When Autumn Sings" (Richard Berry Lynch) – 4:08
- "Love What You Doin' Down There" (Abbey Lincoln) – 8:25
- "Street of Dreams" (Victor Young, Sam M. Lewis) – 6:33
- "I Sing a Song" (Abbey Lincoln) – 5:48
- "The River" (Abbey Lincoln) – 4:59
Personnel
- Abbey Lincoln – vocals
- Riley T. Bandy III – alto saxophone (tracks 6, 8)
- Steve Coleman – alto saxophone (tracks 1, 6, 7)
- Oliver Lake – alto saxophone (tracks 6, 9)
- Frank Morgan – alto saxophone (tracks 3, 5)
- Justin Robinson – alto saxophone (track 9)
- Julien Lourau – tenor saxophone (track 4)
- Graham Haynes – cornet (track 9)
- Marc Cary – piano (tracks 1–8)
- Rodney Kendrick – piano (track 9)
- Michael Bowie – double bass (tracks 1–8)
- John Ormond – double bass (track 9)
- Aaron Walker – drums, percussion (tracks 1, 2, 4, 7, 8)
- Alvester Garnett – drums (tracks 2, 5, 6)
- Taru Alexander – drums (track 9)
- Arthur Green – background vocals (track 9)
- Bazzi Bartholomew Gray – background vocals (track 9)
- Savion Glover – tap dance (track 2)
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Abbey Lincoln}}