Customer Reviews

Verve Jazz Masters 17

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nina Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on February 21, 1933, of North Carolina has provided many decades of heartfelt and defiant music bathed in a jumbled blend of classical, jazz, and blues.

This is the first Nina Simone CD I have purchased and I am glad that I chose this CD as an introduction.

I have listened to a variety of Jazz female vocalists/musicians and Nina is vibrant, headstrong, poignant, and intelligent.

Each song is caked with significance. It is an album that makes all emotions swell like a river engorged.

Track Review:

1. Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
Review: Her voice is low and haunting like the fog that covers a dewy morning. There is a melancholy lust that weaves the tale of remembered and lost love. You really feel the loss and love.

2. I Put A Spell On You
Review: This could never be confused for the DJ Sonique dance anthem. Simone is firey, full of a growling headiness of desire in expressing her love but wantonness to control a lover that wants no part in the affairs of her heart.

3. Love Me or Leave Me
Review: A beautiful and saucy mix of Jazz, Pop, and Classical elements. You really get to hear Nina's passionate piano skills. Bach never seemed so playful and wily. With the addition of Nina's frim fram lusty reminders, she really tells it like it is - example, "there'll be nobody unless that somebody is you."

4. Little Girl Blue
Review: The song starts off with Simone using "Good King Wenceslas" as a counter to the precision jazzy background., which is stark and refreshing. "Good King Wenceslas" expresses the spirit of youth and the jazz lays the depth of experience. Simone plays a tug of war between reminiscing and a quiet sadness brought by a rainy day.

5. My Baby Just Cares For Me
Review: Uptempo and irreverent, Nina states the facts and she shows her sassiness on this track. She's confident and the music certainly reflects it.

6. I Loves You Porgy
Review: A signature stamp reflecting the versatility that is Miss Simone. A smoky and sentimental love song, there is an earnest plea to be a woman wrapped in love. A longing to be held by a solid manifestation of her love.

7. Work Song
Review: This song reflects the hardship on the plight of the black laborer during her era. This song is an earnest tale of how poverty and poor treatment can lay some rough stones for the path of life.

8. Ne Me Quitte Pas
Review: I think the linear notes really state the meaning of this piece more than I could. "Singing in a tired, cracked (not so cracked IMHO) voice, she makes the pain of clutching on to the last threads of love seem tangibly real."

9. Wild Is The Wind
Review: Sultry and sweetly painful. As the wind blows, you see a love unraveling; touching briefly but only to be carried away serenely as Autumn carries leaves miles high into the sky. Nina's voice reminds me of another singer who happened to be the frontwoman of a 90s group named October Project.

10. See-Line Woman
Review: A song whose atmosphere lifts your spirits and embraces you in an energetic Caribbean-African ocean dance. The song features flute, percussion, hand clapping, and pulsating chant. Simone sings of a mysterious woman, a siren of the sea who can "make a man lose his head."

11. Strange Fruit
Review: A cover of Billie Holliday's signature tune. I honestly have never heard this song but have only heard of it through reading. When I listened to this song, I broke down in tears. The pain I felt in my heart clamped down on my soul and enraged me. The song leaves you with more than an image but your senses are attacked. I have never in my young life have been shaken so hard to tears by a song. This song is eloquent and engaging.

12. Pirate Jenny
Review: "A tale of humiliation and murderous revenge" as stated by the linear notes. It is a haunting song. The piano mimics the whole affair. Nina's voice is vibrating tempestuous and quite frightening. This is a song of defiance and action.

13. Four Women
Review: A song that seesaws and makes you want to walk. Nina Simone sings of four black women of different skin tones but share a common plight. It definitely reflects the face of racism within a same race. Nina sums up that even though differences may be apparent, all African American women of all tones have shared many of the same experiences.

14. Mississippi Goddamn
Review: The song has a show tune quality but there is an ever-present rage and heartbreak. She talks about equality of African Americans and speaks of the indignities suffered by tragic assassinations, murders, and slow change. This song is a very scathing accusation of American politics and values.

15. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Review: A very scorching and tender reflection of wanting some acceptance and love.

16. I Hold No Grudge
Review: A bitter anthem between the relationship Simone and America shares. Simone no longer lives in the US but in Europe. As the linear notes explain "In Europe, Simone says, she has finally found peace."

I hope this review has been somewhat helpful. I really conclude that Simone is a worldly treasure. Experience her today, you won't regret it.

Yes, this is the album to get if you only plan on buying one Nina Simone album. But I guarantee that once you have heard it, you will want to buy more. She is truly a remarkable artist. Her piano playing is second to none, and she manages to interweave jazz, classical and blues in quite a remarkable way. Take her rendition of "LIttle Girl Blue" for example. As she sings, she is playing "Good King Wenceslas" on the piano. Truly unique. Then there are her protest songs that are quite chilling, especially "Pirate Jenny" and "Mississippi Goddamn". I wish I could give this 10 stars as it is such a remarkable collection by a remarkable woman. Everyone should own a copy. The booklet includes a 2 page essay on Nina written in both French and English.

In the pantheon of jazz greats, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Nina Simone stands right up there alongside greats such as Billie Holliday. Her work even compares favorably with the instrumental giants like Coltrane or Davis; she's that good. This cd is my favorite from Simone's catalog, "Love Me or Leave Me" my favorite song. While less socially relevant than some of the other songs on this cd, it will leave YOU wanting to dance.

However, ALL of the songs on this cd are great. Some make you want to boogie (yes, I said it), some make you angry, some make you want to cry, but regardless, it's hard not to be affected in some way by each of them. I'd also recommend Verve's "Nina Sings Nina" cd.

This is one of those albums that would make you say I bought the whole thing for this one track. The great thing about it is that all of the songs are worthy of being that one track. This is a strong collection.

That being said, take a listen to Pirate Jenny and Four Women. These songs transport you to another place. They're absolutely immersive.

Pirate Jenny tells of a woman who is disregarded and disrespected. This woman has a secret though, and it is a chilling secret that ulimately plays out in revenge and horror. You can savor the sweet taste of revenge as Nina sings of turning tables with no apology.

Four Women is the type of song you could model a whole college class after. Four Women, all black, all different, yet all the same. She touches on the women's hair and varying skin tones as she describes them. This struck home for me as these are the variables that people use to categorize you. Excellent song, you could write a thesis on it.

Last but not least is Love Me, Leave Me. Man, could Nina play the piano. I marvel whenever I listen at her dexterity. One hand is working a totally different melody than the other. Seriously, it sounds like two people playing two different pianos - she's that talented.

Aside from her incredible skill as a pianist Nina Simone has a voice that feels like warm molasses on soft velvet. So unique, so rich, so powerful.

Excellent CD

I searched far and wide for what I thought was the best collection of Nina Simone and I believe this is it. The selection of songs reflects so many aspects of Simone's voice as well as a great general overview of her career.

Whole heartedly agree with all the reviewers who have commented on this selection by Verve. This is THE cd for first time Nina Simone listeners, and, an absolute must have for those who are already devoted to her. Superb live recordings such as 'My Baby Just Cares for Me', 'I Loves You Porgy.' Actually, the majority of them appear to be live takes, or at least sound that way. 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' is glorious, 'See-Line Woman', unforgettable. Mississippi Goddamn, a live concert version, shows her passion and strength. 'Work Song' is another track that will stay in your head long after you've stopped listening. There's just too many things that are so good about this compilation. Hearing is believing! What a truly great musician she was!

The one, the only, NINA SIMONE!

I have been a fan of Nina Simone for about 6 years now. I have listened to a TON of her music and I can say (i believe) with some objectivity that this is the best collection of her material that I have heard. All of Ms. Simone's albums have at least a couple of interesting tracks but this album is consistent from start to finish.
Quite honestly, Nina Simone has a very unique voice that can range from beautiful to shrill often on the same album. She is definately best when her material is slow because when she stretches, it can be quite grating (hey - i'm a fan - just being honest).
From the opening Black Is The Colour (of my true love's hair) with Nina holding onto her notes for dear life, there is not one misstep. Absolutely one of my top 10 favourite albums of all time - this one is a must - especially if you are a new and interested listener.

I only began listening to Nina Simone, following her death. I don't know why I didn't start listening sooner. This woman is truly one of a kind! From her interpretations of classic ballads like BLACK IS THE COLOR OF MY TRUE LOVE'S HAIR, where she adds her own distinctive brand of flavor--a smokey, soulful feel--to her take on Gershwin (I LOVES YOU PORGY), to two classic songs penned by her (FOUR WOMEN and the explosive and stirring MISSISSIPPI GODDAMN) this woman commands the ear of her listener to surrender to her power.

I don't think there is a singer out there who could ever take the place nor compare to Ms. Simone in power, energy, and expression. That's not even taking her electrifying piano accompaniment into consideration. Nina wanted to acceptance into Julliard, but never made the cut. She attributed this her race (as an African-American woman), and, contrary to the song that might say otherwise (I HOLD NO GRUDGE) she most certainly had bitter feelings toward the United States--particulary the American south, where she came from--and race relations. That is why Nina Simone ultimately relocated to Paris, and lived the final years of her life there.

Finally, I would just like to say that every cut on this CD is riveting and it's as though she is playing her piano to you and for you, and only you. Her dialogue between piano and voice is like no other I have ever heard before in music.
Please give this a spin.

I originally purchased this cd because of Nina's rendition of Billie Holiday signature song "Strange Fruit". After seeing the exhibition "Without Sanctury" "Strange Fruit" takes on another meaning for me. You can feel, sense, touch, see and experience the pain of what this means to Nina in her staccato pronunciation of the lyrics. The other songs on this compliation are great to. This is the album to own if you love "Nina Simone"!!!!!

Nina Simone is the unmistakable voice of blues. She sings about the struggles of African Americans in a deep throaty voice that you will never forget. This music will stir your soul and awaken feelings of the struggle that many of us never knew first hand.