I first heard about Nina Simone while reading Sam Shepard biographies which always mention his working as a busboy at the Village Gate, refilling the diva’s ice water glass during her performances in New York in the 1960′s. It was only years later that I fell under her spell and I still think her take on Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” might actually be the definitive version of what many consider to be his signature song.
Nina was an idiosyncratic piano player and an even more bizarre performer who voiced sexual passion and personal outrage with an often stone-faced countenance that resulted in multi-leveled, nuanced performances that were uniquely her own.
While fans of Simone anxiously await the release of the new documentary about the singer which will be released through Netflix this summer, here is a French production from 1992 that tells the singer’s tale as well as it’s recently been told. Here’s the IMDB…
In this up-close and personal portrait of vocalist and musician Nina Simone, the singer herself and a number of friends, relatives and connaisseurs tell excerpts of her path in music and life. Remarkably, the documentary was able to follow Simone on a visit back to her childhood home, and her mother and siblings are interviewed. Simone also discusses her participation in the civil rights movement and voices opinions that would be controversial then and now. Ultimately, this is a strong portrayal of the pain that was Nina Simone’s. Written by Peter Brandt Nielsen
Ladies and gentelmen, Nina Simone: The Legend…
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