Impulse

Described as “quite the shit” by one Sonic Boom Records employee, Nina Simone’s music is diverse and ferocious. She plays jazz, classical, blues, ballads, african, rock, funk, and stuff I don’t even know how to classify. More interestingly, she effortlessly combines these styles: In “Mood Indigo”, she goes from straight jazz into a Bach-like toccatta, sailing to hard blues, then back to jazz in time for the next chorus. “Little Girl Blue” sings a soulful jazz lyric over a piano playing “Good King Wenceslas”, of all things. These could have all ended up in an incoherent mishmash, but Simone’s skill makes it sound natural - almost as if this was the way the pieces were written.

I first encountered her on the excellent Verve Remixed albums (she appears on all three collections: 1 2 3), particularly the Masters at Work remix of “See-Line Woman”. You’ll also recognize Simone’s “Sinnerman” from The Thomas Crown Affair - the song forms practically the entire soundtrack (the use of this song in this movie is sheer brilliance). Naturally, I went out and bought her original discs.

Simone’s musical talent isn’t her only admirable quality. She was fearless. In the midst of the civil rights wars of the 60’s, she courageously sang her outrage at racial inequalities with raw, emotionally charged songs like “Mississippi Goddamn”, and her lament over Martin Luther King, Jr’s death in “Why?”. But, she wasn’t purely angry. In “To be Young, Gifted and Black”, she sought to inspire the young with pride (her message is almost identical to what I’ve recently heard Spike Lee and Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr call for). Here is a passionate woman who was not afraid to speak her mind to the world.

So, if you like music at all, I heartily recommend going out and buying some of Nina Simone’s records. Oh, and while I’m not reviewing anything, the Verve Remixed albums are excellent as well.