You Gotta Pay the Band is an album by jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln. It was recorded on February 25 and 26, 1991, at BMG Recording Studios in New York City, and was released later that year by Verve Records and Gitanes Jazz Productions. On the album, Lincoln is joined by saxophonist Stan Getz (in one of his last recording sessions), pianist Hank Jones, double bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Mark Johnson. Video clips from the recording sessions were used in the documentary film You Gotta Pay The Band.[1][2][3][4]
In a review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow called the album "excellent", and wrote: "Getz's cool tenor fits in very well with Lincoln's voice, making one wish that they had met up previously... it is not surprising that Lincoln sounds typically inspired... Recommended."[1]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings stated: "With the sole exception of 'Bird Alone', which is a dud, the material is excellent, and it's the sort of band singers will die for." They also praised drummer Johnson, describing him as "an elegant and subtle performer who knows where to place an accent and how to weight it."[6]
Writer Loren Schoenberg commented: "Lincoln has never needed anything but the words of the song she is singing to get her point across... [she] is a superb actress who portrays the complete range of emotions and associations suggested by the song she is singing."[10]
