Loading...

Dig Music Home > Just Played > Nina Simone

Nina Simone

Biography

Fromwikipedia

Nina Simone /ˈniːnə sɪˈmoʊn/, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic contralto. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical. Her intuitive grasp on the audience–performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years old. In the early 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once again. Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the United States. In later years, she lived abroad, finally settling in France in 1992.

More about Nina Simone at Wikipedia

This entry is automatically sourced from Wikipedia external link, the user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors and is licensed under CC-BY-SA external link. Visit Nina Simone external link on Wikipedia to correct or update this entry. Any changes made to the Wikipedia article will not be immediately available here. The ABC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Alert moderator

Discography

  • Nina Simone With Strings, 1966
  • Nina's Back, 1985
  • My Baby Just Cares for Me, 2009
  • The Great Show of Nina Simone "Live in Paris", 1974
  • Silk & Soul, 1967
  • My Babe Cat
  • Let It Be Me, 1987
  • The Greatest Hits, 2003
  • To Love Somebody / Here Comes the Sun, 1998
  • Legends, 1994
  • Love Songs, 2004
  • Nina Simone and Piano!, 1970
  • The Diva Series, 2003
  • Sugar in My Bowl: The Very Best of Nina Simone 1967-1972, 1998
  • Nina Simone Sings the Blues, 2006
  • Little Girl Blue, 2006
  • Moon of Alabama, 1994
  • 28 Great Songs
  • 'Nuff Said!, 1968
  • I Put a Spell on You, 1988
  • The Lady Has the Blues, 2003
  • Nina Simone, 2000
  • 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Nina Simone, 2007
  • Remixed & Reimagined, 2006
  • At Town Hall, 2005
  • Dejavu Retro Gold Collection, 2003
  • Saga of the Good Life and Hard Times
  • Colour Collection, 2008
  • Wild Is the Wind, 2009
  • The Amazing Nina Simone, 2005
  • The Soul of Nina Simone, 2005
  • Emergency Ward / It Is Finished / Black Gold, 2002
  • 3 Originals, 2010
  • My Baby Just Cares For Me
  • Broadway Blues Ballads, 2006
  • Live At Ronnie Scott's
  • The Great Nina Simone, 1997
  • Nina Simone & Piano! / Silk & Soul, 1999
  • Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club
  • 16 Top Tracks
  • Feel the Groove - Vintage Vinyl - Side A
  • The Very Best of Nina Simone, 2007
  • The Essential Nina Simone, 1993
  • Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, 1988
  • The Best of Nina Simone, 1987
  • Classic Nina Simone
  • Songs to Sing: The Best of Nina Simone, 2006
  • Feeling Good: The Very Best of Nina Simone, 1999
  • Gold, 2005
  • Folksy Nina, 1964
  • Tell It Like It Is: Rarities & Unreleased Recordings 1967-1973, 2008
  • 60 Essentials Remastered, 2012
  • The Wonderful Music Of...
  • The Essential Nina Simone Collection, 2010
  • Here Comes the Sun & Other Great Hits
  • The Very Best of Nina Simone, Volume 2, 2006
  • At the Village Gate, 2005
  • Ne me quitte pas, 1994
  • Trilogy, 2010
  • It Is Finished, 1974
  • Porgy
  • I Got Life and Many Others, 1998
  • Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me, 1990
  • Angel of the Morning, 1993
  • Sings the Standards, 2003
  • Wild Is the Wind - High Priestess of Soul
  • O Melhor De Nina Simone
  • High Priestess of Soul, 1967
  • Midnite Jazz & Blues: I Loves You Porgy, 2000
  • Let It All Out
  • Forever Young, Gifted & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit, 2006
  • The Amazing...
  • Nina Simone at the Village Gate, 1962
  • The Solid Gold Collection, 2005
  • At Newport, at the Village Gate, and Elsewhere..., 1998
  • Legendary Nina Simone, 2000
  • Nina Simone's Finest Hour, 2000
  • Four Women: The Nina Simone Philips Recordings, 2003
  • Quiet Now: Night Song, 2000
  • The Complete RCA Albums Collection, 2011
  • Pastel Blues, 2006
  • Fodder on My Wings, 2005
  • The Essential Album, 2003
  • Anthology, 2003
  • Live at Ronnie Scott's, 1987
  • The Definitive Collection, 2006
  • Here Comes the Sun, 1971
  • Classic Hits, 2010
  • Coleção Folha grandes vozes, Volume 6: Nina Simone, 2012
  • The Nina Simone Collection, 2004
  • Angel of the Morning: The Best of Nina Simone, 2009
  • Misunderstood, 2000
  • The Best of "The Colpix Years", 1993
  • Just Like a Woman: Nina Simone Sings Classic Songs of the '60s, 2007
  • Protest Anthology, 2008
  • The Masters: 20 Classic Tracks, 1998
  • Nina's Choice, 1963
  • My Best Songs, 2011
  • The Jazz Biography, 2004
  • Black Gold, 2004
  • My Baby Just Cares For Me (Live At Ronnie Scott's)
  • Nina Simone Sings Ellington
  • Night Song
  • Original Album Classics, 2009
  • Baltimore, 1978
  • The Album
  • The Essential Nina Simone, Volume 2, 1994
  • In Concert, 1989
  • The Nina Simone Story, 2003
  • Gin House Blues, 1999
  • The 60's, Volume 1: Ne me quitte pas
  • Forbidden Fruit, 2005
  • The Definitive Rarities Collection, 2009
  • Nina Simone for Lovers, 2005
  • Verve Jazz Masters 58: Nina Simone Sings Nina, 1996
  • Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall, 2005
  • Nina Simone at Newport, 1960
  • To Love Somebody, 1969
  • The Nina Simone Collection: Her Golden Greats
  • Bittersweet: The Very Best of Nina Simone, 2000
  • Released, 1996
  • Nina Simone in Concert, 2006
  • Remixes One, 2006
  • Greatest Hits, 2010
  • Blue for You: The Very Best Of, 1997
  • Midnite Jazz & Blues: My Baby Just Cares for Me, 2000
  • Verve Jazz Masters 17, 1994
  • Sings Duke Ellington / At Carnegie Hall, 2000
  • Gifted and Black
  • The Amazing Nina Simone / Nina Simone at Town Hall, 1998
  • Forbidden Fruit / Nina Simone at Newport, 1998
  • The Ultimate Collection, 2009
  • The Jazz Plays... The Definitive Nina Simone Collection, 2008
  • The Gold Collection: Classic Performances
  • Feel the Groove - Vintage Vinyl - Side B
  • Collections, 2006
  • Mood Indigo, 2004
  • The Tomato Collection
  • The Masters
  • Nina Simone Live
  • In Concert / I Put a Spell on You, 1990
  • The Blues, 1991
  • Pastel Blues / Let It All Out, 1990
  • In Concert: Emergency Ward!, 1972
  • A Single Woman, 1993
  • Anthology: The Colpix Years, 1996
  • Nina Simone at Town Hall, 1959
  • The Essential Collection
  • Folksy Nina / Nina With Strings, 1998
  • To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story, 2008

This entry is automatically sourced from Musicbrainz external link, the public domain music database. Visit the Nina Simone external link page on Musicbrainz to correct or update this entry. Any changes made to the article will not be immediately available here. The ABC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Alert moderator

Tags

Community tags: 
tag Register to add tags

Recently Played on Dig Music.

11:43pm Mar 9
album cover
SongNobody's Fault But Mine
ArtistNina Simone
AlbumSaga Of Good Life & Hard Times
LabelRCA?BMG
Year1968
See more 'Just Played' Songs on Dig Music

Media

More Nina Simone on YouTube external link

Non-ABC videos are automatically sourced from YouTube external link, the user-contributed video sharing site. The ABC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Alert moderator
Nina Simone Sings The Standards

Non-ABC images are automatically sourced from Discogs external link, a community-built database of music information. The ABC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Alert moderator

Links

Artist Website

On the ABC

Elsewhere on the Web

Links suggested here are generated automatically. The ABC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Page created on Apr 5, 2009. 2:09am and updated on May 13, 2013. 2:53am.

Alert moderator

Recommendations

recommend Recommend
Sep 15, 2012. 12:59pm
--unerringlee--... recommended this
Jul 6, 2012. 6:02pm
JD recommended this
Jan 4, 2012. 5:21pm
Moontide recommended this
May 2, 2010. 8:34am
johncrob recommended this

Comments

Post a Comment

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Comments from unregistered users are subject to ABC moderation and will not appear until they are approved - there will be a delay until they are published.
Create A Profile to add comments straight away.

http://www.abc.net.au/conditions.htm
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
three times five equals
Solve this math question and enter the solution with digits. E.g. for "two plus four = ?" enter "6".
Untidy Desk - Live Music. Up Close.
Get the ABC Radio App now
Find ABC Dig Music on Facebook
ABC Dig Music on Twitter
ABC Jazz
ABC Country
Explore Dig Music
Sign up to the weekly newsletter
Enter your email address
Other ABC music sites