Lindsay spent her childhood in Europe, her parents being teachers in American schools there. She took up clarinet at high school, then alto and tenor saxophones. At this time she was studying with Mal Waldron. In 1973, she went to the Berklee College Of Music in Boston for a year, then returned to Europe to tour with her own quartet and to freelance as soloist, composer and arranger. She came back to New York in 1980, composing for television, video and ballet, and playing with Melba Liston, Clifford Jordan, Ted Curson and McCoy Tyner. As a composer of well-crafted and atmospheric tunes, her influences include Waldron, Gene Ammons, Johnny Griffin, Dexter Gordon, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. In the new millennium Lindsay was co-leading a quartet comprising Sumi Tonooka (piano), Bob Braye (drums) and Rufus Reid (bass).