![]() ![]() Her voice found challenge and support in the various chromatic figures presenting themselves in songs like the title track, Charles Aznavour's "Tomorrow Is My Turn," "Take Care of Business," "Our September Song," "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," "Tell Me More and Then Some," "Strange Fruit," "Chilly Winds Don't Blow," and others, offering a vocalist in control not only of the melody, but the flow of emotion in the song, imparting its message to the instrumentalists and listeners even as it occurs to her in the act of singing. True, it was one she could manipulate in terms of color and dynamic, but nonetheless, she used it as one would use a guitar, a saxophone, or a piano. Working again with Mooney and complemented by Horace Ott on the former album, Simone found the orchestral formula and used it as a single musical instrument. But it is on I Put a Spell on You, with its large and lush orchestral backing, and the chamber jazz setting of Pastel Blues that Simone's truly diva-like quality asserts itself. The reality of that initial performance was further reinforced on the Broadway-Blues-Ballads disc, which opens with the definitive rendition of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and George Bass' wondrous "See Line Woman." Going from the small combo concert album - where Simone accompanied herself on piano, to the lush orchestrations of the Broadway-Blues-Ballads album, with Hal Mooney conducting and writing the charts, is a jarring yet complementary experience. Simone's political stance with "Old Jim Crow," "Mississippi Goddam," and Weill and Brecht's "Pirate Jenny" makes them feel like they are of a piece with Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" and Willard Robison's "Don't Smoke in Bed," where blues, jazz, folk songs, and Broadway tunes all come together in that theatrical, sultry, and smoldering voice. First there is the audacious Nina Simone in Concert recording, done on two separate dates in New York in March and April of 1964 and issued later that summer. But Simone's Philips period is a monolithic accomplishment when measured against many of her peers, both male and female. ![]() The box contains all seven LPs on four CDs, and includes one bonus track. Among her Philips recordings are her live label debut and six studio recordings featuring wildly varying instrumentation, arrangements, and contents. Despite the fact that she recorded great albums both before and after her years with Philips (most notably with RCA), her Philips period is easily her most enigmatic. It was the period in her career in which her reputation was cemented as a world-class artist, and one in which she gained fame for her contributions to the civil rights movement as well. (1987) Nina Simone - Let It Be Me (Live at Vine St.Nina Simone recorded seven albums for the Philips label between 19. ![]() (1986) Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me (1966) Nina Simone - Nina Simone With Strings (1966) Nina Simone - Nina Simone Sings The Blues (1963) Nina Simone - Nina Simone At Carnegie Hall (1962) Nina Simone - Nina Sings Ellington (1962) Nina Simone - Nina at the Village Gate ![]() (1960) Nina Simone - Nina Simone at Newport (1959) Nina Simone - The Amazing Nina Simone (1959) Nina Simone - Nina Simone at Town Hall (1959) Nina Simone - Nina Simone And Her Friends (1959) Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me (1957) Nina Simone - Little Girl Blue / Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club Over the length of her career Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958-when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue-and 1974. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendering of "I Loves You Porgy" was a hit in the United States in 1958. When she began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education and become a classical pianist she was required to sing as well. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.īorn the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist. Eunice Kathleen Waymon (Febru– April 21, 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone /ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn/, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. ![]()
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