Nina Simone

This week, I want to make an article about Nina Simone. I introduced one of her songs in my classes and discovered that she was unknown to my students. It was therefore necessary for me to present her life and work as the legendary artists she was. 

- The "difficult" words are underlined, and you are free to find their meanings in your dictionary (www.wordreference.org) 

- Listen to the podcast here:

- Read the text

- Listen and read at the same time for your brain to develop and improve your listening skills.

Enjoy!

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Nina Simone was one of the most extraordinary artists of the 20th century and an icon of American music. She used her talent to create a sense of liberation, empowerment, passion and love through wonderful songs. She was nicknamed "High Priestess of Soul" because she could cast a spell on people, and they would lose track of time and space as they became absorbed in the moment. 

Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon. She was born in North Carolina on February 21st, 1933. She started playing the piano by ear at the age of 3. She was raised in a strictly religious family and she played the piano in her mother's church. When she was 12, she made a concert in the local church. Her parents, who were sitting in the front row, were forced to move to the back to leave their seats to white people. She refused to play until her parents moved back to the front. 

After graduating from high school, she wanted to go to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the school rejected her because of her race. Eunice moved to New York City and studied at the Julliard School of Music.

To survive, she began teaching music to local students. One day, in 1954, she started to sing at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She transformed popular tunes unto a synthesis of jazz, blues and classical music, and people started talking about her. Her rich, deep velvet voice combined with her wonderful keyboard skills soon attracted an audience. Eunice didn't want her mother to know she was singing in bars, she became "Nina Simone", after the actress Simone Signoret.

When she was 24, Nina Simone came to the attention of the record industry and signed a contract with Bethlehem Records, and her interpretation of "I Loves you Porgy" was a big success in 1958. Nina Simone recorded more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974. Her musical style is a mixture between gospel and pop songs, with a bit of classical music and jazz singing. 

In the early 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement and that gave a new direction to her life. Her music had a big influence on the fight for equal rights in the United States. Nina Simone always included songs about her African-American origins, but it was the first time she openly sang about the racial inequalities in the United States with "Mississippi Goddam". From then on, there was always a civil rights message in her songs. The most powerful performance, to me, is her interpretation of "Strange Fruit", a song originally by Billie Holiday.

Her last album, A Single Woman, was recorded in 1993. She had suffered from breast cancer for several years when she died in her sleep on April 21st, 2003. Elton John sent flowers with the message "You were the greatest and I love you." Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She leaves a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, actress and singer with the stage name Simone.

Source: the Official Home of Nina Simone and Wikipedia

Here is a documentary about the great Nina Simone; called: Nina Simone, The Legend.