Nina Simone's Finest Hour

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Nina Simone communicates with a unique force on this Finest Hour collection, a welling, riveting power that's beyond the range of other singers. It's there whether the song is romantic or political, whimsical or sentimental, and these recordings from the 1960s demonstrate the range of material that she could make her own, from Gershwin to Jacques Brel, from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to Nat Adderley. With her own civil rights era anthems like "Mississippi Goddam" and the Brecht-Weill "Pirate Jenny," Simone commands our attention with a profoundly brooding, searing rage, while there's potent sensuality in her "Wild Is the Wind" and Willard Robison's "Don't Smoke in Bed." Whether she's accompanying herself with her spare piano or defying studio orchestras with the intensity of her performance, Simone is a special singer, her art consisting in stripping away the decorative artifice of a song to reveal a molten core beneath. --Stuart Broomer

Nina Simone's Finest Hour, Music, Nina Simone, Jazz, Jazz Music, Jazz Vocals, Pop, Standards, Vocal Jazz
Nina Simone's Finest Hour
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • after hours
  • Nina Simone finally returns home to North Carolina..................
  • Nina Simone is very real and very Original !!!
  • She puts a spell on you
  • 1st recording i've heard from Nina
 Nina Simone's Finest Hour
Nina Simone
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
Vocal Jazz GeneralVocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | R&B | Styles | Music
Traditional Vocal PopTraditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. After Hours
  2. Nina: The Essential Nina Simone
  3. The Blues
  4. Nina Simone at the Village Gate
  5. The Soul of Nina Simone

ASIN: B00004ST4U
Release Date: 2000-06-13

Tracks:

  1. Love Me Or Leave Me
  2. Wild Is The Wind
  3. I Put A Spell On You
  4. Work Song
  5. Don't Explain
  6. Untitled
  7. Mississippi Goddam
  8. Four Women
  9. Pirate Jenny
  10. I Loves You, Porgy
  11. This Year's Kisses
  12. Little Girl Blue
  13. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
  14. Ne Me Quitte Pas
  15. Don't Smoke In Bed

Amazon.com

Nina Simone communicates with a unique force on this Finest Hour collection, a welling, riveting power that's beyond the range of other singers. It's there whether the song is romantic or political, whimsical or sentimental, and these recordings from the 1960s demonstrate the range of material that she could make her own, from Gershwin to Jacques Brel, from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to Nat Adderley. With her own civil rights era anthems like "Mississippi Goddam" and the Brecht-Weill "Pirate Jenny," Simone commands our attention with a profoundly brooding, searing rage, while there's potent sensuality in her "Wild Is the Wind" and Willard Robison's "Don't Smoke in Bed." Whether she's accompanying herself with her spare piano or defying studio orchestras with the intensity of her performance, Simone is a special singer, her art consisting in stripping away the decorative artifice of a song to reveal a molten core beneath. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars after hours.......2006-12-16

nina simone's don't explain is a song that's hauntingly familiar, but yet pensive. combined with the elements of her own style of piano playing,
mournful wind instuments along with the lite touch of high hat cymbals,
the song is dark but yet compelling. as her dark voice sings as if she were lamenting, you can't help but venture further and further into
this tapestry of litany. don't explain is one of many songs on her after
hours album.

though her music may not be light and airy, nina simone evokes a lyric and worldly sense of being

5 out of 5 stars Nina Simone finally returns home to North Carolina.........................2006-05-23

......and takes residence in my music collection.
I cannot remember ever being so pleased with a
purchase. This CD not only lives up to
its title, but it also adds further splendor and
dignity to the musical legacy of Nina Simone. Prior
to this CD, I was only remotely familiar with
Simone; mainly by virtue of commercial allusions
or literary accounts of her contributions. Also,
I had been listening to this very recording at work
through computer speakers. HOWEVER, once I heard it at
home, out loud and in surround sound, it left me with
no doubt that Nina Simone added irrefutable substance
to the trite expression: "musical genius."

One could write volumes about the voice alone. In my
opinion it was not a beautiful voice, but rather
an essential tool used toward the construction of
a solid, multi-layered musical palace. Simone's
voice is comparable to that of Maria Callas in
the opera realm: not necessarily the most beautiful,
but by far, the most capable of conveying the
emotional stance of the character/composer.
Both singers were highly aware of their
vocal instrument; proficiently utilizing
it to display the dynamics
of love/hate/joy/despair (et al.) with a frank,
virtuoso flair that not only fell pleasantly on
the ears, but also resounded brilliantly with emotional authenticity.
In the jazz realm, Nina Simone, with her majestically
agile contralto, was unsurpassable in terms of
providing color and life to a song.

In perfect conjunction with the voice is
Simone's amazing musicianship. Her classical
piano training envelopes each composition
and sells it, Donald Trump-style. The arrangements
are intelligent, never overpowering, and replete
with a unique jazz/classical hybrid. From the
opening bars of any given composition, the
listener knows that a masterwork is in the making.
I found myself alternately listening to just
the music or the voice alone. Either way,
the result is the same. Simone's style
adds that subtle element of "cool" that makes
jazz so unspeakably enjoyable.

I could also comment on her life as an activist
or as a staunch supporter of artistic freedom,
but I'll concentrate on the music for now.

Nina Simone's "Finest Hour" is a perfect addition
for longtime fans as well as a bright point of
departure for newfound admirers. A five star
rating doesn't measure even a tenth of the
greatness of this CD. Thank you, Amazon.com for
the availability of this recording
and thank you, God, for Nina Simone.

5 out of 5 stars Nina Simone is very real and very Original !!!.......2005-12-22

This is one of my fav albums of all time and she is an excellent singer with a witty flair and even deeper sense for poetry.

5 out of 5 stars She puts a spell on you.......2005-10-18

This CD is worth owning and cherishing if only for one single song--Simone's cover version of Screaming Jay Hawkins's "I Put a Spell on You." Her jazzy vocals are mind-blowing, and the stuttering smokiness of the trumpet solo midway through the song is worth however much money you have to spend. "Nina Simone's Finest Hour" is a perfect and pristine selection of Simone's greatest recordings, and a must have for anyone who has ears to hear with.

4 out of 5 stars 1st recording i've heard from Nina.......2005-07-31

It is very rare to find a voice as unique as Nina Simone's. After hearing a few songs by her i knew that i had to go out and buy one of her records. Unfortunately, the local music store only had various greatest hits record. I decided on this one because i had heard Duke Ellington's Finest Hour, and thought that this one may be worth checking out. Though I enjoyed almost every song on this album, I do not know if the tracks were chosen wisely, having never heard many of Nina's work before. As far as greatest hits albums go, I like this one. I hope to find more material from Nina, and maybe find a release of one of her original records.
Nina Simone's Finest Hour
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Nina Simone's Finest Hour
    Nina Simone
    Manufacturer: Universal/Verve
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
    Vocal Jazz GeneralVocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
    Traditional Vocal PopTraditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
    VerveVerve | Verve Music Group | Specialty Stores | Music
    ASIN: B00005S75Y
    Release Date: 2001-12-21

    Tracks:

    1. Love Me or Leave Me
    2. Wild Is the Wind
    3. I Put a Spell on You
    4. Work Song
    5. Don't Explain
    6. Mississippi Goddam
    7. Four Women
    8. Pirate Jenny
    9. I Loves You, Porgy
    10. This Year's Kisses
    11. Little Girl Blue
    12. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
    13. Ne Me Quitte Pas
    14. Don't Smoke in Bed

    Music:

    1. Noel Coward Album [Import]
    2. Pastel Blues/Let It All Out
    3. Personal Christmas Collection
    4. Piano in the Foreground [Extra tracks] [Original recording remastered]
    5. Restoration: The Best of Bob James
    6. Rhino: Swingin Christmas
    7. Serene Renegade
    8. Signature
    9. Songs From Big Sur
    10. Standards, Vol. 1

    Music

    Music