Customer Reviews
2008-09-13
wow...
I had not ever heard of Nina Simone before. I ran across her name and then, by chance, someone gave my husband this CD and he brought it home. I listened to it and could not believe how, yes, mesmerizing her voice and interpretations are. The other reviewers express this very well, and I didn't want to read too many of those reviews before adding my own, so as not to lose all words for it. Simone's voice is completely "other" and completely known at the same time. She is in complete command, and yet does not sound too distant or at all cloying, and not over-powering. Her interpretation of each song as well as her voice are both multi-dimensioned in a way that I have not ever heard, and unique. It's a wonderful experience to listen to this CD in full, with each track wonderful to listen to.
2007-10-02
nina's got soul...
I was not familiar with nina before this album. I definitley like her groove. Very powerful singer. A couple of tracks are a little hokey for my taste, but overall a great listen.
2007-04-03
Soulfully Pleasing!!...
In this album, Nina Simone touches the soul. Actually all of her albums do, thanks to her unique voice. She keeps things interesting by switching from slow tempo ballads to up-beat funky jams. I recommend this album to anyone who appreciates a strong, sensual and soulful woman = Nina Simone.
2007-02-10
Quintessential PowerVoice...
Ten or so years ago, when I lived in wild and wikkit El Lay, I was having drinks with a client at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons (which as we all know, is NOT in Beverly Hills proper, but just across the street on Doheny). As we sat there, my client and I heard a woman (man?) talking just out of eyesight. The voice, while not loud, cut through the pre-cocktail hour buzzle like a small frigate---clean, strong, and distinctive. She wasn't being loud, it was just that that voice...that voice. My client persuaded me to go find out who was speaking, as we were mesmerized. I went into the next little salon off the bar area and saw an elegant black woman talking with an earnest young white man in his first grown-up suit, in his first grown-up A&R job (probably fresh from USC business school). She was talking and he had the most incoherent look on his face. In retrospect, I think he had never met someone like her, and of course, he never will again. I hope he appreciated her. I asked, "Excuse me, but your voice is so distinctive---it sounds very familiar. Do I know you?" She stopped her narrative, languidly looking up at me, extended her hand in a regal but not royal way, and simply said, "I am Nina Simone."
I have to admit that I had heard of her, but couldn't have named one song she'd recorded. Even in the hip 80's and 90's, she was radically underappreciated and heard in the States. Needless to say,(and this was way before amazon.com et al)I raced to Tower and bought several of her recordings. This recording is a favorite, and the more I listen to this amazing singer, the more I wonder why she never had a wider American audience. Her singing, like her speaking, was so very distinctive and mesmerizing. You may not want to, but you cannot help yourself from stopping to listen. I have had more people ask me "Who's playing?" when one of her songs comes up in the mix.
Her take on any song is memorable. Her voice has a resonant quality unlike the thin, reedy, over-produced songbirds on the charts today. Most modern singers in any genre seem hell-bent on showing off what their voices CAN do. It's like nude scene in a movie: gets your attention, but does nothing to move the plot along. Same with all the vocal melisma of current artists---all the shrieking does nothing to sell the song. With La Nina, it is just pure singing, straight out and true.
Try this album. You may not like it at first. Her voice is unique and requires attentive listening. But like dark chocolate, which might taste bitter at first, somehow seduces you and milk chocolate becomes a little ho-hum. So it is with Nina Simone. You may not want to play her for your next rave, but with friends over for drinks or dinner, Nina playing in the next room, soon everyone will be asking, "Who's playing?" And you can turn on a new audience to an incomparable, unique voice.
2007-02-08
A great CD for what it was...
Nina Simone is someone that put out so many albums, it would not be financially practical to try to collect them all. This compilation CD does show her wearing many different hats through different eras of music. For example, she does some good Blues work on "Do I Move You?" and a good live performance on "Mississippi Goddamn."
Some pieces are more vocal, and others are more piano driven/ instrumental, and that versatility is enjoyable.
For me, this has been a good introduction to Nina Simone and likely all of her that I will need to buy. I believe that this compilation has been sufficiently broad to stand on its own in a CD collection.
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This album was release on
2003-05-08.
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