Nina Simone
[REPOST: this entry of April 22nd was deleted by accident. cached (old) comments are here]
Yesterday, Nina Simone died at age 70 in her home in the South of France. Next to Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone (real name: Eunice Waymon) is my most favorite jazz singer, composer and a great pianist. I guess everyone knows her song "My Baby Just Cares For Me", but Dr. Nina Simone was also very dedicated to fight for civil rights and for some time, she was more known for her protest songs than for her ballads. Her unique voice - deep, husky and incredibly strong, even when whispering - was distinctive, whether she sang pop or jazz ballads, spirituals, protest songs or folklore.
Nina Simone's performances were never unpolitical, sometimes confrontational and until recently, she always expressed her disgust about racism and the treatment of blacks in the USA. She left the country and lived in Africa, in the Caribbean and finally settled down in France.
One of my absolute favorites: her song 'Don't Explain' [mp3].