NINA SIMONE

— pianist - singer - songwriter - activist —

VERVE RECORD CLUB: HIGH PRIESTESS OF SOUL (EXCLUSIVE LP)

“As an artist, I must give myself wholly and completely to the expression of that which is within,” said Nina Simone, who never sought the easy path.

On 1967’s “High Priestess of Soul,” the March 2025 title in the Verve Record Club, Simone selects diverse repertoire including songs by Chuck Berry (“Brown Eyed Handsome Man”) and Duke Ellington (“The Gal From Joe’s”), frames her soulful voice with lush orchestrations – large ensemble arrangements courtesy of Hal Mooney that never overshadow Nina’s immortal voice – and relates a string of personal and magnetic stories in song.

Order the exclusive “High Priestess of Soul” LP pressing by subscribing to the Verve Record Club: https://store.ververecords.com/pages/verve-record-club

NINA SIMONE IN CONCERT (60th ANNIVERSARY ACOUSTIC SOUNDS REISSUE)

“Mississippi Goddam” staked out Nina Simone’s support of the Civil Rights movement when this album debuted in 1964, helping make it probably the most personal album that Simone issued during her stay on Philips during the decade.

Here, the singer and pianist is backed by a spare quartet, and some of the songs rank among her most socially conscious declarations of African-American pride: ‘Old Jim Crow,’ ‘Pirate Jenny,’ ‘Go Limp,’ and, especially, ‘Mississippi Goddam’ were some of the most forthright musical reflections of the Civil Rights movement to be found at the time.

In a more traditional vein, she also reprises her hit ‘I Loves You, Porgy’ and the jazz ballad ‘Don’t Smoke in Bed.'”

Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

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BLACKBIRD: The Colpix Recordings (1959-1963)

First-ever luxury 8CD box set of expanded editions of the critically-acclaimed and treasured albums that the iconic Nina Simone recorded for Colpix Records from 1959 to 1963 which formed the very foundation for the global reach she achieved as peerless and influential artist over the decades that followed.

With an astounding 107 tracks covering over seven hours of music, the original albums ‘THE AMAZING NINA SIMONE’ (1959), ‘NINA SIMONE AT TOWN HALL’ (1959), ‘NINA AT NEWPORT’ (1960), ‘FORBIDDEN FRUIT’ (1961), ‘NINA AT THE VILLAGE GATE’ (1962), ‘NINA SIMONE SINGS ELLINGTON’ (1962), ‘NINA SIMONE AT CARNEGIE HALL’ (1963) and ‘FOLKSY NINA’ (recorded in 1963, released in 1964), augmented by 29 bonus tracks consisting of single edits, non-LP sides and a wealth of other material found in the Colpix tape vaults in the early 2000’s.

Including the legendary performer’s first readings of classics such as ‘Wild Is The Wind’, ‘I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl’, ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out’ and ‘Sinner Man’ (key cuts that Nina would revisit over later albums after her Colpix tenure ended.

Plus an astonishing array of diverse material from torch songs ‘You Can Have Him’ and ‘The Other Woman’ to the gospel-flavoured ‘Children Go Where I Send You’, and a later version of Nina’s first US breakthrough 1958 hit ‘I Loves You Porgy’ along with her indelibly distinctive take on folk songs ‘Cotton Eyed Joe’, ‘Little Liza Jane’ and ‘Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair’.

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The Montreux Years

Nina Simone’s story from the late sixties to the nineties can be told through her legendary performances in Montreux. Taking to the Montreux stage for the first time on 16 June 1968 for the festival’s second edition,

Simone built a lasting relationship with Montreux Jazz Festival and its Creator and Director Claude Nobs and this unique trust and electricity can be clearly felt on the recordings.

Simone’s multi-faceted and radical story is laid bare on ‘Nina Simone: The Montreux Years’.

From Nina’s glorious and emotional 1968 performance to her fiery and unpredictable concert in 1976, one of the festival’s most remarkable performances ever witnessed, the collection includes recordings from all of her five legendary Montreux concerts – 1968, 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1990.

About Nina

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musical arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned a broad range of styles, including classical, jazz, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Nina referred to her music as Black Classical Music.