Simone began a recording contract with RCA that would produce some of her best and most mature work. While many jazz fans will insist that Simone was no longer any kind of jazz singer by this time, there remain certain elements of her work (the judicious use of space, or silence, for one, her unusual but completely logical phrasing for another) that are more the province of jazz singers than most other genres.

Nina Simone first came to the public’s attention in 1959, and from then until 1964, she recorded a number of successful records for the Colpix label. These recordings, including “Wild Is the Wind,” “He Was Too Good To Me,” and “House of the Rising Sun,” as well as a plethora of standards, are still regarded most fondly by jazz fans. But even from the earliest, her predilection for interpreting all kinds of music, including folk songs, blues, soul and R&B, pop, jazz, cabaret, and original songs was in evidence. Her Phillips recordings from 1964 until 1967 move in a more eclectic direction both in her selection of tunes and her developing, unique performance style. In addition, her songs and performances were developing more and more social and political content. On her 1964 release Nina Simone in Concert, recorded at Carnegie Hall, she performs “Old Jim Crow” and devastates the audience with her “Mississipi Godam” as no audience had been devastated since Billie Holiday unleashed “Strange Fruit” on an unsuspecting cabaret audience.

Simone continued to be a jazzy singer, but is no question that her newfound political stance helped dampen her career among predominantly white popular music listeners. It also helped fuel a mystic persona that seemed to unleash righteous anger and pain from the depths of her soul. Nina Simone was a conjure woman, bringing songs to life like incantations, the very utterance of which had the power to unleash the cosmos, or to soften the hearts of mere mortals, or to shame those who sought to take advantage of their fellow man or woman. The power engendered by Simone’s quiet dignity and simple statement of truth is beyond that which could be mustered by an army. Her final Phillips release, from 1967, is High Priestess of Soul, a name that had already been applied to Simone by fans and writers.

The same year, Simone began a recording contract with RCA that would produce some of her best and most mature work. While many jazz fans will insist that Simone was no longer any kind of jazz singer by this time, there remain certain elements of her work (the judicious use of space, or silence, for one, her unusual but completely logical phrasing for another) that are more the province of jazz singers than most other genres. Not only that, but her ability to fuse a variety of genres, bending them to her will in the service of her individual style reached its apex in her RCA work. Nina Simone and Piano has been reissued, with ‘Nuff Said and To Love Somebody available as imports. Now, RCA has reissued two other classic RCA Simone albums, Sings the Blues and Silk and Soul, both from 1967 as well as a third disc that compiles Simone’s most political work from her RCA years, Forever Young, Gifted, and Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit. These releases come at a perfect time in American popular music, because while Simone appeared to fade away as the 1960s and 70s faded into the nation’s collective memory, her seed was planted deep in the souls of many black artists who are now beginning to make their presence known in the music industry. That would include such artists as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys, Amel Larrieux, and a variety of others. So it’s the perfect time to revisit and rediscover the powerful body of work left behind by this unique and talented singer.

>>Nina Simone Sings the Blues