Customer Reviews

Nina Simone at the Village Gate

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently read her autobiography, and in reference to this concert at the Village Gate, Nina Simone stated that she owned the crowd that night, and if you don't believe it you can buy the album and hear for yourself. Ms. Simone does not exaggerate: she gave an incredible performance that night.

The album starts with a jazzy standard "Just In Time", then goes onto a ballad. Already having snapped your fingers and bopped your head, then stared wistfully, meaningfully into space while the ballad works its magic, you shift into blues with her breathtaking rendition of "House of the Rising Sun" which she released before the Animals had the hit.

One thing that's great about this album is that it really showcases her skills as a classically trained concert pianist. Though most people, sadly, know her as a vocalist and stylist, she's playing the piano when you hear one in her songs because she never intended to do popular music, but there had not yet been a black woman concert pianist and despite her best efforts and prodigious talent, she did not succeed in being the first. The fourth track on the album is a nice lift from the second and third, more somber tracks.

"Brown Baby" returns to the eerie and hopeful ballad territory. Though she became known for her protest music later in her career, at the time of this recording Nina was still doing a variety of styles. To hear the emotion and strength of conviction in this song is to understand how anyone develops the strength to fight passionately for justice, and to taste the salty tears of rage.

"Zungo" is upbeat and yet another style. Then "If He Changed My Name" turns toward the reflective strength of the spirit, a sparse arrangement with haunting vocals. And "Children Go Where I send You" brings the house down. "You ever been to a revival meeting...? Well, you're in one right now."

I own dozens of Nina Simone albums and have been a fan for years. Until I heard this one, though, I could not appreciate fully the range of her talent from the early days of her career. As much as I love some of her other albums, this would be the one I'd have to take with me to a remote island. No fan should be without this album. And nobody who's reading this should leave the page without giving it a try: it's dang good.

This CD is not to be missed. Don't be put off by the low song count (8), each song easily tops 5-6 minutes (some clock in at 8 mins)and what's missing in quantity is made up for in quality. The intimacy of Nina's appearance here is captured as she sheds new light on well-worn Broadway standards and unknown songs alike. Her voice was also a bit lighter than it became later on so she hits some high notes easily. As usual her piano-playing is great and she's backed by great sidemen but they never get in the way of her singing. Plop this CD in the player and suddenly you are sitting in the audience watching and listening to Nina in New York's Village, 1961. That's how intimate this CD is.

In the intimate ambiance of The Village Gate, Nina Simone made pure magic with her voice and on the keyboard, one Manhattan evening back in 1961. She sang and played with a trio, which featured her favorite guitarist, Al Shackman. We are so fortunate that the moment was captured and recorded. This is by far my favorite collection of Ms. Simone's music.

I can't really categorize Nina's sound or her music and call her "just" a fabulous jazz vocalist. Although, she plays extraordinary jazz with her voice, as in "Just In Time." She has been often called a musical anomaly, because there is no one category for her work. She was trained as a classical pianist, and in cuts like "Bye Bye Blackbird," the complexity of her piano comes through loud and clear. Her folk songs, like the biting "House Of The Rising Sun," and "Zungo" an African work song, place her at the top of a long list of folk singers. Ms. Simone's gospel songs, i.e., "Children Go Where I Send You," can raise the roof and bring down the house, as she did at the Gate in '61. She is a protest singer, "Brown Baby," and an actress, capable of an extraordinary range of emotions.

Nina has the rare ability to dig into her material and bring unexpected meaning to familiar lyrics. She is eclectic with her taste and her repertoire. But whatever touches Nina, and whatever Nina touches, will reach you and evoke an emotional response. Her music is as fresh today, as it was 42 years ago, singing for that Manhattan audience. They could not have loved her more then, than we do now.

In reviewing Nina Simone's 1982 disc re-released earlier this year, "Fodder On My WIngs", I said that earlier Nina Simone fills the bill better. This disc is one of the ones I'm talking about. It fills the bill compared to anything; it truly is a classic.

Recorded live at The Village Gate in 1961, this album was a harbinger of many things to come, and a showpiece for Nina Simone's versatility and virtuosity.

Consider her versions of "If He Changed My Name" and "House of the Rising Sun", later made more famous by Roberta Flack and Eric Burdon but undeniably inspired by Ms. Simone. She tells the audience that "Sun" is a folk song and she performs it that way, quietly, with the tinge of shame and guilt that the words of the song imply.

Or consider "Brown Baby." Here she sings of self-affirmation and "Black pride"--before the word "Black" was fashionable, and before Martin Luther King, James Meredith, Medger Evers and Bull Connor had wended their ways into national consciousness. She didn't just inspire an artist or two here: she helped to inspire a movement.

Or consider "Bye Bye Blackbird": No vocals here, just piano with the trio of Al Shackman (g), Chris White (b) and Rob Hamilton (d). They turn this standard into a cross between Dixieland, Bach and Thelonious Monk. It confirms that Ms. Simone was one of the best pianist-chanteusses ever.

And then consider the last cut and the album's highlight, "Children Go Where I Send You." At the beginning, Ms. Simone says to the audience, "Y'all ever been to a revival? You don't know what I'm talkin' 'bout, do ya? Well, you in one now!" And so we are. I can't remember ever hearing a tune that compelled me to sing along--in riffing, scatting harmonies--the first time. And the second, third and fourth times, too. This song lifts you out of your seat; you may not want to drive your car while playing this!

My only complaint with the album is that the piano is out of tune. But maybe that's not such a bad thing. I'm sure that when Alan Lomax recorded Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson and the like, their guitars weren't perfectly in tune, either. But what got put on celluloid was an American classic nevertheless. And so is this one. A signpost of American music and America of the early '60's, this album should be in the Smithsonian--and your c.d. collection as well. RC

I like the CD. However,I was disappointed that there was a different arrangement of 'Just in Time' on the CD. I was really looking for the arrangement that was used at the end of the movie 'Before Sunset.' As with everything that Nina does, it was otherwise great.

From the introduction of Nina Simone to the last of the songs, one is transported back in time and location and gets to experience this little-known talent as if in her presence. The listener is so caught up in the performance that you find yourself applauding with the audience. The opening song is "Just In Time" and that is how the listener feels for the honor and privilege of sharing the genius of Nina Simone.

Recorded in 1961, at the Village Gate, when Nina Simone, at age twenty-eight, was finding great success and popularity through her recordings on Colpix Records, this live performance beautifully recreates the mood and atmosphere of a Nina Simone concert. A performer with talents in many directions--and a classical background in piano, which she studied at Juilliard School of Music--Simone shows off her skills brilliantly in this CD, which never seems to repeat the same kind of music twice.

In the finger-popping "Just in Time," she begins almost in a monotone, singing the melody against a bass, but then picks up the tempo and introduces a sparkling piano treatment, her own arrangement. The ballad "He Was Too Good For Me," a slow lament of a lost love, is followed by "House of the Rising Sun," a folk song familiar to audiences worldwide now, but new at the time--sung as funky blues with a strong guitar and bass beat.

"Bye Bye Blackbird" is unique on the CD--an 8:12 minute jam session with no vocal. Simone on piano, and her guitarist, Al Shackman, provide a musical statement and then echo for two minutes, with drums, cymbals, and a more upbeat piano following. Filled with variations on the familiar theme, the track ends with a grand finale of classical jazz. "Brown Baby," a "freedom song" recorded in the days before Freedom Rides and the death of Martin Luther King, is a powerful assertion, which ends in a wail. "Zungo," which follows appropriately, is an African inspired number with drum accompaniment.

The highlight of the CD for me was "Children, Go Where I Send You," a revival song so full of energy that it will have you ready to leap through your speakers to "witness" along with Simone. Simone had complete artistic control at Colpix, and it shows here. The CD is beautifully paced and offers a great deal of variety, and Simone wisely keeps her accompaniment to a minimum. A terrific CD! n Mary Whipple

Anthology
The Very Best Of Nina Simone, 1967-1972 : Sugar In My Bowl
Nina Simone - Live at Montreux 1976
Nina: The Essential Nina Simone
Nina Simone's Finest Hour

I did not really like this CD, and I am an avid fan of Nina Simone. I guess I put too much confidence in a review I had read re this CD. I was very disappointed. Sorry.

One of my favorite albums of all time perhaps because I saw Nina at the Village Gate during the period when she cut these tracks live. Her Bach-inspired version of Bye Bye Blackbird never fails to give me a lift.

Who is Nina Simone? An astonishing, striking singer and pianist. Why must you buy this CD? Because Nina will amaze you with her repertoire of songs, vocally and musically.

I've traveled with Nina in my car for a week now and have listened to "Nina...at the Village Gate" countless times. Except for the first song, I haven't even begun to tire of the CD. What's with the first song? Not a thing if the volume for the microphone for the guitar had not been so annoyingly loud. Although Al Shackman demonstrates worthiness to play with Nina in other songs, in this one he plays so monotone. Even her wonderful piano chops cannot make you ignore the singsong guitar--loud! That's a shame because the CD is otherwise absolutely fantastic!

Out of nine reviews (counting mine), eight recorded five-star reviews and only one is a four-star. That is an overwhelming favorable consensus of opinion.

Nine Simone wanted to be the first African American concert pianist, but did not make it. That may be just as well, because now the the world has the incomparable Nina Simone, jazz pianist and singer, also noted for rhythm and blues, gospel, and soul.

She goes from "Just in Time" in which she sings vibrato to "He was too good to me," a lovely ballad that demonstrates her rich, warm voice.
Her version of "House of the Rising Sun" will make you throw out your Animals' version (not really). Actually, she sings it like a ballad, a folk ballad--this before the Animals recorded it in their soulful style.

Not a word does she sing in "Bye Bye Blackbird" (just a caw or two)--it's a pure jazz/classical rendering of a fine song that Nina makes her own with a long playful introduction. In technique, I am reminded of Bill Evans, that masterful jazz pianist of an overlapping time.

"Brown Baby" is another rich display of her voice and style in an almost lullaby ballad style. "Zungo" reveals an enchanting, sprightly African melody, then she returns to a gorgeous ballad with "If he changed my name." Her last song, "Children Go Where I Send You," is reminiscent of a tent revival meeting. In fact, in this live recording she asks the audience, "Do you even know what a revival is? Well, you in one now!"

Nina Simone cannot be definitively labeled. She wanted to be a classical concert pianist, but after studying at the Julliard School, she wanted to go to another exclusive school. They would not take her because of her race, a fact that left her bitter. But sometimes things work out for the best, because that rejection sent her on to develop an inclusive style of classical, jazz, blues, and so on.

One Nina Simone CD, I have discovered, is not enough. I must have another. I also ordered a new biography that will come out in March, Nina Simone: The Biography. Reading this review cannot be enough for you either. You must have Nina in your music machine, too. "Nina Simone at the Village Gate" is a great way to start!