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Nina at the Village Gate

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Untitled

Nina Simone at the Village Gate is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone (1933-2003). It was her third live album for Colpix recorded at The Village Gate, a nightclub in Greenwich Village, New York. It is particularly notable for the amount of folk songs and African related songs on the album early in Simone's career. Richard Pryor had one of his first nights as a comedian opening for her.[1]

Information about songs on this album

  • "Just in Time" was used at the end of the movie Before Sunset (2004).

Critical reception

The record received a glowing response when reviewed in 2012 by Gaslight Records, being given a rating of 9.5/10. The reviewer highlighted the "rawness of the recording technique", stating that it catches the "incredible atmosphere" of the nightclub and succeeds in presenting "a young Nina Simone in her most real and free flowing state yet and this is perhaps most apparent in the way that her flawless vocal along with her innovative and dynamic piano playing shine through as effortless and unrivalled abilities without any need for recording studio gloss or trickery."[2] AllMusic's reviewer stated that "Nina Simone, who was always in a category by herself, is heard throughout in her early prime," and that she "has the rare ability of really being able to dig into material and bring out unexpected meaning in familiar lyrics."[3]

Track listing

  1. "Just in Time" (Adolph Green, Betty Comden, Jule Styne)
  2. "He Was Too Good to Me" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
  3. "House of the Rising Sun" (Josh White, Libby Reynolds Holmes, Nicholas Ray)
  4. "Bye Bye Blackbird" (instrumental) (Mort Dixon, Ray Henderson)
  5. "Brown Baby" (Oscar Brown)
  6. "Zungo" (Babatunde Olatunji)
  7. "If He Changed My Name" (Robert MacGimsey)
  8. "Children Go Where I Send You" (Nina Simone)

Personnel

  • Nina Simone - vocals, piano
  • Al Schackman - guitar
  • Chris White - bass
  • Bobby Hamilton - drums

References

  1. ^ Simone about Pryor's first night: “He shook like he had malaria, he was so nervous. I couldn't bear to watch him shiver, so I put my arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down. The next night was the same, and the next, and I rocked him each time.” In: Nina Simone & Stephen Cleary, I Put a Spell on You, pp. 70-71
  2. ^ "Album review". Gaslight Records. 2 January 2012. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015.
  3. ^ Yanow, Scott. "Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
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