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She had an amazing career:

Abbey Lincoln, a singer whose dramatic vocal command and tersely poetic songs made her a singular figure in jazz, died on Saturday in Manhattan. She was 80 and lived on the Upper West Side.

Ms. Lincoln's career encompassed outspoken civil rights advocacy in the 1960s and fearless introspection in more recent years, and for a time in the 1960s she acted in films, including one with Sidney Poitier.

Long recognized as one of jazz's most arresting and uncompromising singers, Ms. Lincoln gained similar stature as a songwriter only over the last two decades. Her songs, rich in metaphor and philosophical reflection, provide the substance of "Abbey Sings Abbey," an album released on Verve in 2007. As a body of work, the songs formed the basis of a three-concert retrospective presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2002.

Hers was a truly original voice, both haunting and elegant. Through her marriage to Max Roach from 1962-1970, she became very active in the Civil Rights Movement:

The most visible manifestation of their partnership was "We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite," issued on the Candid label in 1960, with Ms. Lincoln belting Oscar Brown Jr.'s lyrics. Now hailed as an early masterwork of the civil rights movement, the album radicalized Ms. Lincoln's reputation. One movement had her moaning in sorrow, and then hollering and shrieking in anguish -- a stark evocation of struggle. A year later, after Ms. Lincoln sang her own lyrics to a song called "Retribution," her stance prompted one prominent reviewer to deride her in print as a "professional Negro."

Ms. Abbey Lincoln will be sorely missed.

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