Bman's Blues Report

        ON DELUXE REISSUE OF  NINA SIMONE AND HER FRIENDS, A BRAND-NEW STEREO RE-MASTER SHOWCASES A LEGEND ON HER ASCENSION TO STARDOM   Set includes four tracks from the  Little Girl Blue  recording session in 1957 along with songs by jazz-vocal greats Chris Connor and Carmen McRae   Available from Bethlehem Records/BMG December 3 on vinyl, CD and digital platforms  Stream the “African Mailman” re-mastered track here  (hyperlin...

 I just had the opportunity to review the newest release (August 13, 2021), Little Girl Blue , by Nina Simone and it's terrific! This is a classic album which was originally recorded in 1957 by the then 24 year old Simone on her first recording outing. This release has been remastered and engineered by Michael Graves and Cheryl Pawelski and the vinyl (180g blue or black) cut by engineer, Kevin Gray. Opening with Ellington's, Mood Indigo and opens with Simone showing that she really knows her way around the keyboard having attended Julliard. In this hot jazz improvization, she really swings in with potent piano lines and great offset vocals, joined by Jimmy Bond on bass and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums. Excellent opener. Don't Smoke In Bed , a Willard Robinson composition, finds Simone singing the blues with only a bed of piano as a light accompaniment for the most part and highly tense at the end of her phrases. Masterful. Another terrific blues, He Needs Me ,...

  I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Montreux Years , from Nina Simone and it's really a great representation of her live performances. This compilation covers all of her 5 Montreux performances. Disc one a composite of cuts from various years and disc two her 1968 performance in full. Opening with a demonstration of her classical training on piano on Someone to Watch Over Me , Simone really gets the keys rolling showig real keyboard prowess and power. On shuffle track, I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free , Simone lays down a simple piano line and sings with her casual but succinct style with heavy piano accent. Very cool. See-Line Woman with backing vocal has it's southern blues roots and chant like nature. Very much like primitive field hollars, it relates to prostitutes lining up to perform "favors" as the sailors come to shore. Don't Smoke In Bed is a fairly classic Simone track with it's dramatic classical/jazz pia...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Mood Indigo: The Complete Bethlehem Singles , by Nina Simone and it's terrific. Opening with Porgy (I Loves You, Porgy) , Simone on lead vocal and piano sets a standard that to today is still regarded as gold for jazz style. Backed by Jimmy Bond on bass and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums, this is an excellent opener. Love Me Or Leave Me leaves no question of where contemporary vocalists such as Diana Krall's inspiration originates. This is the blueprint for bop jazz vocals. Very nice. Somber ballad, He Needs Me , not only shows the purity of Simone's vocals but the crystal clear classical style piano work that is her trademark. Showing her classical piano chops on the intro to Latin based instrumental, African Mailman , Simone really gets the rhythm moving on this one. Letting out the lead on title track, Mood Indigo , Simone really swings. Her vocal phrasing, over Bond's bass line is so excel...

REDISCOVER THE REMARKABLE FIRST RECORDINGS OF ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE NINA SIMONE ON MOOD INDIGO:...

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – 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. 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. Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist as a child. 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 was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black. She then began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education to become a classical pianist and was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her ren...