As a bassist, he was present at the earliest moments of bossa nova and as a Hammond organ player, he was foundational in establishing the sound of Brazilian jazz and space age pop.

His most successful arrangements include O Bêbado (Durval Ferreira and Orlandivo), Na Onda do Berimbau (Oswaldo Nunes), Romantic Partners (Nilo Sérgio) and The Blues Walk, the latter in collaboration with American trumpeter Clifford Brown.

[2] Lincoln's early influences included jazz performances by Shorty Rogers, Gerry Mulligan, J. J. Johnson & Kai Winding, and Chet Baker; artists whose recordings he heard played on the hi-fi systems belonging to the parents of his rich friends.

There, Lincoln began performing on piano each midday for Radio Roquette Pinto, where he met and formed friendships with a variety of musicians including Luizinho Eça, Johnny Alf, Geraldo Vandré, Sergio Ricardo, Juquinha (bossa nova drummer), Dick Farney and Tom Jobim.

[1] Lincoln pestered the radio station engineers to play him all the newest North American jazz discs, and formed an early appreciation for the work of Oscar Peterson.

[2] Lincoln agreed to form a combo with Luiz Eça and Johnny Alf, even though they asked him to play double bass, an instrument he had never touched.

Previously, Lincoln had not been allowed to touch the instrument, but he proceeded to teach himself enough of its idiosyncrasies that he was able to successfully lead Conjunto Drink through a busy evening.

In 1968, Lincoln formed his own record label: De Savoya Discos, releasing a self-titled album with liner notes on the back explaining that the 12 songs were in 12 styles that were very different from each other to show the artist's facility as a performer and composer.

In the 1990s, some of Ed Lincoln's releases were pirated and played widely by disc jockeys in England to become successful as source material for dance tracks.

Lincoln occasionally accepts recording dates, and appeared playing organ on one track, Conversa Mole, on an Ed Motta album released in 2000.