Nina Simone - 1957-1962 The Essential Works

Standard edition; not limited; not numbered.

Notes from rear jacket sleeve:

Side A: "From the album Little Girl Blue, New York, 1957, Nina Simone (vocal, piano); Jimmy Bond (bass); Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums)".

Side B, tracks 1-4: "From the album The Amazing Nina Simone, New York, 1959, Nina Simone (vocal, piano) accompanied by a large orchestra, Bob Mersey (direction), musicians unknown".

Side B, tracks 5 and 6: "From the album Little Girl Blue, New York, 1957, Nina Simone (vocal, piano); Jimmy Bond (bass); Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums)".

Side C: "From the album Nina Simone at Town Hall, New York, September 12, 1959, Nina Simone (vocal, piano); Jimmie Bond (bass); Albert "Tottie" Heath (drums)".

Side D, tracks 1 and 2: "From the album Forbidden Fruit, New York, 1961, Nina Simone (vocal, piano); Al Shackman (guitar); Chris White (bass); Bobby Hamilton (drums)".

Side D, tracks 3 and 4: "From the album Nina Sings Duke Ellington, New York, 1962, Nina Simone (vocal, piano) accompanied by Big Band & The Malcolm Dodds Singers".

Side D, tracks 5 and 6: "From the album The Amazing Nina Simone, New York, 1959, Nina Simone (vocal, piano) accompanied by a large orchestra, Bob Mersey (direction), musicians unknown".

"NINA SIMONE (1933-2003)

Nina Simone was an exceptional artist. She was gifted with a precocious talent and she played music at home and in church. Nina originally counted on becoming the first black female classical pianist; her plans were thwarted and that frustration no doubt permeated almost her entire career. Yet she became a diva capable of combining the jazz world with those of the classics and soul, and among the titles she recorded are some of the most vibrant and moving performances of Wild is the Wind or You Can Have Him, I don't Want Him. She was one of the greatest artists of her time, and her fervour and rigorous demands concerning the quality of her music took her to the highest summits, whether in her compositions or in her vocal and piano performances. For all that, she never forgot her condition as a black woman in the America of the Sixties, and her active commitment to defending the rights of the black minority was exemplary - and at times even excessive, for which she was often reproached. She has left us some of the most beautiful chapters in jazz and soul music, among them the 23 titles that appear in this album."