Critical reception for Baltimore was mixed.Nina Simone (1933-2003) holds a unique place amongst the great jazz performers of all time. What sets her apart from other jazz masters is not only her captivating and sultry voice and skillful command of the piano, but her aptitude in almost every genre of music there is. She has taken soul, jazz, and pop to new levels, as well as proving herself in blues, gospel, Broadway, folk, classical, and opera. She also performed and recorded many of her own compositions.īorn Eunice Waymon in North Carolina, Simone grew up in a family with eight children. She started out as a classical pianist, but in 1954 the financial necessity of her family led her to take a job in an Atlantic City nightclub.

Thus, Nina ('little one') Simone (French actress Simone Signoret), was born.Īfter auditioning for the gig, the owner told her that she could have it, but only if she agreed to sing as well. In the late 1950s, Simone began recording on a small label, Bethlehem Records. 'I Loves You Porgy,' a song from George Gershwin’s musical 'Porgy and Bess.' This was the only song that Simone recorded in her entire career that made the Top 40. Simone did just fine performing in nightclubs and making albums, most of them live recordings. She recorded nine albums in the early 1960s alone. In the mid-‘60s, inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, Simone composed several songs, including 'Old Jim Crow' and 'Mississippi Goddam' which were issued on her first album with Philips (Nina Simone in Concert). 'Mississippi Goddam' was written in response to the death of four black children in a church bombing, in 1963. It was her protest songs that best demonstrated Simone’s amazing ability to communicate, deeply and clearly, human emotion, especially those of Black people in the U.S.A.

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