Heidi Martin

“Heidi Martin conjures the vocal and dramatic majesty of Abbey Lincoln’s life force, taking listeners through a series of affirming events and revelations enveloped in gorgeous music and poignant history”

~ Sara Donnelly, Director Jazz at South Arts

“Abbey Lincoln is a pioneer in expanding the job description of the female popular singer beyond the maudlin vagaries of the torch song. It was only after critics had assailed Lincoln for the presciently Afrocentric tone and content of her 1961 Straight Ahead album, that Nina Simone turned her lyrical focus to the politics of black liberation. Unlike Simone, who was publicly cannibalized by her internalized battles, Lincoln survived the roller coaster ride of celebrity and controversy (albeit on a different stage and scale) long enough to afford a graceful ascent towards some deeply mellowed wisdom. It is this wisdom about women and men and the songs and children that issue forth from their love and struggle that Heidi Martin has so successfully mined in her stirring envoicement of ABBEY! Documenting in words, music, and sound quality the social genius of an artist once branded “misguided and naïve” by jazz critics, ABBEY! is the product of considerable scholarship and deliberative editing on Martin’s part. Her performance also documents a personal relationship across race and generation between two women who met briefly in DC and NY and shared one 3-hour phone call in the middle of the night. Clearly, from the way Lincoln’s words have haunted Martin’s body, the mentoring quality of that relationship has extended beyond the grave, insuring that through ABBEY, both old fans and new listeners, will enjoy the paradoxical experience of hearing an unapologetic white artist respectfully channel the strength and beauty of jazz music’s first black power diva.”

~Dr. Thomas Stanley, artist, author, and ethnomusicologist

"Heidi Martin's voice has a heavy Rickie Lee Jones bottom with a suggestion of Joni Mitchell and Betty Carter and just a hint of Janis Joplin in the finish." - All About Jazz