![]() This album is not a showcase that variety, merely one facet of it. Her style varies broadly–from blues to jazz to gospel to folk and political music. This album covers all those emotions set against the background her of well-arranged orchestration and her exceptional skill as a pianist. With a voice that’s less than perfect, she’s nevertheless full of passion and pain, joy and raunchiness in her music. Nina Simone can be considered an acquired taste–like black coffee, fine brandy, or good cigars. There are really fine tunes and interpretations, on which Simone gives an edge to the potentially fey pop songs, taking a sudden (but not uncharacteristic) break for a straight jazz instrumental with “Blues on Purpose.” The title track, a jazzy string ballad version of the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic, gave the Beatles the inspiration for the phrasing on the bridge of “Michelle.” Most of the songs feature dramatic, swinging large-band orchestration, with the accent on the brass and strings. Simonedidn’t write any of the material, turning to popular European songsmiths Charles Aznavour, Jacques Brel, and Anthony Newley, as well as her husband, Andy Stroud, and her guitarist, Rudy Stevenson, for bluesier fare. ![]() One of her most pop-oriented albums, but also one of her best and most consistent. ![]()
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