Let’s just call the summer of 2021, the “Summer of Nina.” We witnessed Simone’s powerful performance in the Questlove directed Summer of Soul, her recorded performances at Montreux were the first, alongside Etta James of The Montreux Years, Ledisi’s latest project, like the former, covered on these pages, is Ledisi Sings Nina. So, it only seems fitting that this Nina resurgence would lead to reissuing the artist’s original material as happens with BMG issuing a newly remastered version in all formats of Nina Simone’s 1959 landmark recording, Little Girl Blue. This is the album that spawned such enduring songs as her first hit, “I Love You, Porgy” and the classics “My Baby Just Cares for Me,” “Love Me or Leave Me,” and “Mood Indigo.” With classical training, an ear for the blues and all original forms of American music, already with her unique phrasing, Simone was not yet 25, had only been performing professionally for three years when she laid down these 11 tracks in just one day in the studio in 1957.
Digital and vinyl versions are already out there with the CD version due August 13th. A 180-gram black vinyl version is due September 3. These remastered versions come courtesy of Grammy Award-winning engineer Michael Graves and producer Cheryl Pawelsky with the vinyl cut by engineer Kevin Gray. Liner notes are from, Daphne A. Brooks, Yale Professor and author of the acclaimed book, Liner Notes for the Revolution.
At the time Simone was creating a buzz playing in clubs and a small jazz label Bethlehem gave her the opportunity for a one-record contract with an option for a second. What was highly unusual was that they gave Simone full control of the record’s direction. So, with just a few rehearsals with bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath, this was not only Simone’s first recording session, but most of the tunes were done in one take. Yes, she had confidence and then some. We all know through both recordings and two documentaries how her career blossomed from that point forward.
Even the sequencing of the tracks is interesting. She starts with an up-tempo reading of Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo,” moves into the aching, sultry ballads “Don’t Smoke in Bed” and “He Needs Me” before striking those familiar notes of Good King Wenceslas” in “Little Girl Blue,” an early masterpiece of her dynamic control. It references classical music as does her Bach-like passage in “Love Me or Leave Me.” We then get the jaunty joyful strides of “My Baby Just Cares for Me.” The B-side features three from the Great American Songbook – “Good Bait,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” and her biggest hit, her interpretation of Gershwin’s “I Loves You Porgy.” It has the smoldering ballad “Plain Gold Ring” sandwiched in there and she closes with her only original, the instrumental “Central Park Blues,” inspired by the cover photo shot of her on a bench in New York’s famous park. The subhead for the album – “Jazz As Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club.” That’s an indication of the mood she was going for – letting you know it was for most appreciative, not the mainstream. Her sense of drama and stunning command of dynamics is evident in just the second song, “Don’t Smoke In Bed.”
The impeccable sound quality of this reissue allows the listener to focus on the nuances and special phrasing that was and still is unique to Nina Simone. When any other singer, even one as good as Ledisi, sings a Simone song she consciously tries not to mimic but to put her own spin on it. That’s partly in deference to Nina but also because they recognize that they can’t be Nina. No one since has come along with the combination of advanced piano skills, vast musical vocabulary, arresting presence, and emotive delivery of songs as Nina. Technically there are better pianists and vocalists but none with Nina’s combination – truly a singular, enduring, timeless voice.
