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Nina Simone

The High Priestess -

Eunice Waymon was born in Tryon, North Carolina as the sixth of seven children in a poor family. The child prodigy played piano at the age of four. With the help of her music teacher, who set up the "Eunice Waymon Fund", she could continue her general and musical education. She studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York.

To support her family financially, she started working as an accompanist. In the summer of 1954 she took a job in an Irish bar in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The bar owner told her she had to sing as well. Without having time to realize what was happening, Eunice Waymon, who was trained to become a classical pianist, stepped into show business. She changed her name into Nina ("little one") Simone ("from the French actress Simone Signoret").

In the late 50's Nina Simone recorded her first tracks for the Bethlehem label. These are still remarkable displays of her talents as a pianist, singer, arranger and composer. Songs as Plain Gold Ring, Don't Smoke In Bed and Little Girl Blue soon became standards in her repertoire.

One song, I Loves You, Porgy, from the opera "Porgy and Bess", became a hit and the nightclub singer became a star, performing at Town Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival. Even from the beginning of her career on, her repertoire included jazz standards, gospel and spirituals, classical music, folk songs of diverse origin, blues, pop, songs from musicals and opera, African chants as well as her own compositions.

Combining Bachian counterpoint, the improvisational approach of jazz and the modulations of the blues, her talent could no longer be ignored. Other characteristics of the Simone art are: her original timing, the way she uses silence as a musical element and her often understated live act, sitting at the piano and advancing the mood and climate of her songs by a few chords.

Sometimes her voice changes from dark and raw to soft and sweet. She pauses, shouts, repeats, whispers and moans. Sometimes piano, voice and gestures seem to be separate elements, then, at once, they meet. Add to this all the way she puts her spell on an audience, and you have some of the elements that make Nina Simone into a unique artist.

When four black children were killed in the bombing of a church in Birmingham in 1963, Nina wrote Mississippi Goddam, a bitter and furious accusation of the situation of her people in the USA. The strong emotional approach of this song and the others on her first Philips record ("Nina Simone In Concert"), would become another characteristic in her art. She uses her voice with its remarkable timbre and her careful piano playing as means to achieve her artistic aim: to express love, hate, sorrow, joy, loneliness - the whole range of human emotions - through music, in a direct way.

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Radio & Podcasts

New Releases And Birthday Shoutouts To Nina Simone, Ida Cox, Nancy Wilson & More

Read "New Releases And Birthday Shoutouts To Nina Simone, Ida Cox, Nancy Wilson & More" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


This broadcast includes new releases from Jill McCarron, Lynne Arriale, Mamiko Watanabe, Debby Wang, Sara Michaels, Natalie Douglas, a digital release for Nina Simone's Back and a second single from Rachel Z plus birthday shoutouts to Nina Simone, Patti Wicks, Ida Cox, and Nancy Wilson, among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by seeing them live and online. Purchase their music so they can continue to distract, comfort, provoke and inspire.Playlist Jill McCarron ...

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Album Review

Nina Simone: You've Got To Learn

Read "You've Got To Learn" reviewed by Scott Gudell


Socially conscious black troubadours such as William Warfield, Harry Belafonte, Odetta and many others were challenging the U.S. government's questionable policies on numerous things including war, civil rights, equality and more, by the mid-20th century. R&B soul master Marvin Gaye would follow in the early 1970s and pointedly ask “What's Going On" while the Temptations were declaring that both the question and the answer were that we were all living on a “Ball of Confusion." There was another ...

8
Album Review

Nina Simone: You've Got To Learn

Read "You've Got To Learn" reviewed by Chris May


The release of this magnificent album, recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966, is headline news for fans of Nina Simone. None of the material, all of it high grade, has been made available before. Newport promoter George Wein donated the tapes of Simone's performance to the US Library of Congress, where they lay forgotten until, following Wein's passing in 2021, Simone historian Nadine Cohodas unearthed them. Simone is in peak form, accompanied by guitarist Rudy Stevenson, bassist ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Jazz "Twofers": Nina Simone, Lester Bowie, Bob Brookmeyer And More

Read "Jazz "Twofers":  Nina Simone, Lester Bowie, Bob Brookmeyer And More" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


In the tradition of Classic Rock radio's “Twofer Tuesdays," this show features sets of two (or three) tracks by a single jazz artist displaying some of the variety of music they have played in their careers. Musicians featured on this program include Nina Simone, Lester Bowie, Jazz Passengers and Bob Brookmeyer. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Bob Brookmeyer ...

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Radio & Podcasts

New Releases Plus Birthday Shoutouts to Harold Arlen, Nina Simone and Nancy Wilson

Read "New Releases Plus Birthday Shoutouts to Harold Arlen, Nina Simone and Nancy Wilson" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


This broadcast presents new releases from vocalist Liz Terrell, guitarist Ron Jackson and pianist Wendy Kirkland with birthday shoutouts to Harold Arlen (who wrote with several fine women lyricists) in the first hour and Nina Simone and Nancy Wilson in the second hour, among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music during this time of pandemic so they can continue to distract, comfort and inspire. Playlist Dena DeRose “A Tip ...

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Book Review

Playing For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath

Read "Playing For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Playing For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath Edited by Daniel Fischlin & Eric Porter 352 Pages ISBN: 978-1-4780-0814-9 Duke University Press 2020 Musical improvisation is often described as a conversation. A universal language. Musicians trading back and forth seem to be having a blast, which, on occasion, for players and for listeners alike, can attain transcendent qualities that are difficult to interpret, never mind articulate. As the twelve essays in ...

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Radio & Podcasts

I See You; I Hear You

Read "I See You; I Hear You" reviewed by H William Stine


I think one of the responsibilities of having a microphone every week is knowing when to shut up. I did that (for the most part) this week and let singers and songwriters who for so many years have seen and heard with perception and then written with eloquent honesty about this painful struggle playing out once again across America. Playlist Cody Owen Stine “Paris Mismatch (Theme Music)" from Unreleased Master (Unreleased) 00:00 Nina Simone “I Wish I Knew ...

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Recording

NIna Simone: Lost Album, 1982

NIna Simone: Lost Album, 1982

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Nina Simone lived in Paris from 1981 to 1983. Like most American artists who take up residence there, the elegance and majesty of the city transforms them. During these years, Simone lived in southern Paris near the Parc Montsouris in the 14th arrondissement, in a small, 260-square foot apartment that was largely empty except for a piano. Parc Montsouris was created by Emperor Napoleon III and is one of the city's largest public green spaces. In the winter of 1982, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nina Simone's birthday today!

The High Priestess- Eunice Waymon was born in Tryon, North Carolina as the sixth of seven children in a poor family. The child prodigy played piano at the age of four. With the help of her music teacher, who set up the “Eunice Waymon Fund", she could continue her general and musical education. She studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York. To support her family financially, she started ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nina Simone's birthday today!

The High Priestess- Eunice Waymon was born in Tryon, North Carolina as the sixth of seven children in a poor family. The child prodigy played piano at the age of four. With the help of her music teacher, who set up the “Eunice Waymon Fund", she could continue her general and musical education. She studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York. To support her family financially, she started ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nina Simone's birthday today!

The High Priestess- Eunice Waymon was born in Tryon, North Carolina as the sixth of seven children in a poor family. The child prodigy played piano at the age of four. With the help of her music teacher, who set up the “Eunice Waymon Fund", she could continue her general and musical education. She studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York. To support her family financially, she started ...

Award / Grant

Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame 2018 Inductees Named

Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame 2018 Inductees Named

Source: HypeBot

The 2018 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were named early Wednesday morning. Three of the five main inductees were on the ballot for the first time. One of the repeat nominees, Bon Jovi, tweeted, “It's about time!" The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2018 inductees are:  Bon Jovi The Cars Dire Straits The Moody Blues Nina Simone Sister Rosetta Tharpe was chosen for the Award for Early Influence. Four of the Inductees were on the ...

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Award / Grant

Rock Hall Of Fame 2018 Nominees Announced: Radiohead, Eurythmics, Judas Priest, Nina Simone Among 9 First Time Nominees

Rock Hall Of Fame 2018 Nominees Announced: Radiohead, Eurythmics, Judas Priest, Nina Simone Among 9 First Time Nominees

Source: HypeBot

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the 19 nominees of its 2018 class overnight. Nine, including Rage Against The Machine, Eurythmics, Judas Priest, Moody Blues and Nina Simone are among nine first time Rock Hall nominees. The complete list of 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees. First time nominees are noted with an *. Bon Jovi Kate Bush* The Cars Depeche Mode Dire Straits* Eurythmics*

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nina Simone's birthday today!

The High Priestess- Eunice Waymon was born in Tryon, North Carolina as the sixth of seven children in a poor family. The child prodigy played piano at the age of four. With the help of her music teacher, who set up the “Eunice Waymon Fund", she could continue her general and musical education. She studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York. To support her family financially, she started ...

2

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nina Simone's birthday today!

The High Priestess- Eunice Waymon was born in Tryon, North Carolina as the sixth of seven children in a poor family. The child prodigy played piano at the age of four. With the help of her music teacher, who set up the “Eunice Waymon Fund", she could continue her general and musical education. She studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York. To support her family financially, she started ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nina Simone's birthday today! The High Priestess - Eunice Waymon was born in Tryon, North Carolina as the sixth of seven children in a poor family. The child prodigy played piano at the age of four. With the help of her music teacher, who set up the “Eunice Waymon Fund", she could continue her general and musical education. She studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York. To support her family financially, she ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nina Simone

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nina Simone's birthday today!

The High Priestess - Eunice Waymon was born in Tryon, North Carolina as the sixth of seven children in a poor family. The child prodigy played piano at the age of four. With the help of her music teacher, who set up the “Eunice Waymon Fund", she could continue her general and musical education. She studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York. To support her family financially, she ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

You've Got To Learn

Verve Records
2023

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Fodder On My Wings

Verve Music Group
2020

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Portraits

Portraits (2)
2018

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Nina Simone And Her...

Bethlehem Records
2014

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Videos

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