It Is Finished - Nina Simone

I'm excited for Nina Simone to be my latest obsession.  After hearing a track from this album on the radio, I'm starting here, but I have at least five of her other albums I'd like to listen to soon.  Her body is work is much larger than I expected and after some reading and searching about her best work and best songs, I chose six and I'll go from there.  Most people recommend her live albums (Nina Simone at ...), but for some reason I see those as being reserved for her more experienced fans, as I tend to see all artists and their live albums.  However, after all that explanation, I'm starting with a live album because I can't get that one track out of my head.

 My ideas of Simone up to this point had always been favorable.  I'm aware of her versions of "Ooh, Child" and "Here Comes the Sun," but I was in love with "Feelin' Good" for a very long time and may possibly still be.  Her voice is striking and powerful and her musicality is obvious.  I had no idea she was pianist and initially inspired to be a classical pianist.  I grouped her with the great Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday - a powerful woman with a unique voice putting her stamp on standards, but there is much more to it, as I was to only just yesterday find out.

It Is Finished is her last album at RCA, recorded in 1974.  It begins with "The Pusher," a song popularized by Steppenwolf!  Its hard to find any evidence of this hard rock style in her music.  Her soulful performance seems to be influenced only by the severity of the lyrics.  After some applause, she launches into a hypnotic descending, single-hand, piano melody.  It then becomes chords, while the guitar, or smaller strummed instrument (I'm not sure here) takes up a similar melody.  Her vocal melody sounds like "Kumbaya" and strangely the words "come by here" are slurred together to sound like she is singing "kumbaya" as well.  Its gospel, but with only Simone's vocals, it is an unusual way to experience the genre.  The audience clearly feels the gospel vibe as they begin clapping in rhythm about 2/3 through until the end.  I still cannot get that piano hook out of my head.

When I heard "Funkier than a Mosquito's Tweeter" on Louisville's WFPK, I was surprised to find it was Nina Simone.  It sounded much newer to me, something like Róisín Murphy meets the Noisettes.  The percussion is intricate, I cannot name exactly what instruments are used, but some bongos, drum set, and tambourine for certain.  Essentially, this rhythm track carries the entire song, dropping out only at certain times to showcase Simone's voice.  It is constantly evolving and changing but still retains the essential seductive initial repetition.  Simone's voice is smooth and the lyrics are uncomplicated which blends right into the rhythm track.

"Mr. Bojangles" isn't bad, but I feel that I've heard over versions which interest me more.  Simone's version is simple, her vocals straightforward and the instrumentation typical.  The audience apparently recognized the next song.  They cheer loudly after she iterates the first line of "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl."  The song is seductive, her piano playing is reminiscent of that in a salon or bar, but in the very best of ways.  She dedicates the song to the great Bessie Smith.

"Dambala" is haunting.  Simone sings quietly, her voice slinks through each word.  I'm pretty sure I hear sitar in this one and there is a lot of Simone's classical piano training here as well.  It makes for a unique performance.  Its a shame this album is so under represented among Simon's oeuvre.  I can find hardly any sources in a cursory search that talk about it or any of the songs on here.  As a result, I don't know who sings the duet, "Let It Be Me" with her on this album.  The piano is simple, playing chords to back up the straightforward melody with few embellishments.  I imagine this song would work well on the soundtrack for a good drama film.

"Obeah Woman" begins with another repetitive percussive track and again I'm not exactly sure on the instrumentation except for the obvious tambourine and bongos.  Here she sounds almost like Miriam Makeba.  I know the two were close friends, but I'm not sure as to the timeline between their friendship and the recording of this album. The singing in this song seems very loose, she frequently invites the audience to participate.  There is an element of call and response, but also slight improvisation.

This album demonstrates the versatility of Nina Simone.  I had no idea she was so multifarious and involved in the instrumentation of her music.  I had no idea she was such a force when performing live.  I had no idea she sang more than standards.  Expect to see much more Nina Simone on this blog soon.

Odessey and Oracle - The Zombies

I wanted to write about this album immediately following Costa's Unfamiliar Faces because this is an album literally straight out of the 1960s, but this time I don't mean it as a criticism, in fact the exact opposite.  There's poppy piano, there repetition to the point of losing the melody, there's that soft male voice (although this time, accompanied by a chorus at certain points), and there's the singer/songwriter style of lyrics, BUT the comparison ends there.  The Zombies album is much more integrated, musically sound, and therefore lasting.  Their previous albums contained cover songs and singles making Odessey and Oracle their only true album.  Luckily this one album is well done, despite budgeting, mixing, and deadline issues.  I can't get "This Will Be Our Year" out of my head and "Care of Cell 44" will be on repeat for awhile.  The middle of the album really brings out the Baroque pop element with lots of harpsichord and vocal harmonizing.  Its not my style really, but I can appreciate it I suppose.  The single everyone knows, "Time of the Season" falls at the end of the album, an unusual place for the hit single.

Unfamiliar Faces - Matt Costa

Instantly poppy and ear catching, a simple piano hook draws you in and Costa's voice pulls the music forward.  Neither mundane, sleepy, or overemotional, these are the sounds summer is made for.  I'm not talking summer like Jack Johnson, also on Brushfire Records, which I thought this albums would sound like.  The laid back, surfer style does not exude from Costa and I was pleasantly surprised.  Even simpler, more expected songs contain just a little bit of bounce, enough for me to take notice and not instantly wipe the album from my hard drive.  "Mr. Pitiful" sounds like a show tune.  "Never Looking Back" could be sung around a campfire or riding your horse through the desert I imagine.  Musically, I really like "Emergency Call," with its full, choppy piano sound, bongos, and vocal melody, but so far the album is lyrically a little disappointing.  "Vienna" weirdly tries to apply a Brazilian bossa nova feel to a city totally unassociated with it, then he sings a little bit of German and I'm lost.  Perhaps there's something I'm missing.  Back to basic piano pop - the title track, a little better lyrically and I enjoy the way the piano winds around his voice at the end of phrases, at least in the beginning of the song.  The repetition of the chorus is bland and far too long.  I'm far too ready for "Cigarette Eyes" when it finally comes.  It occurs to me that Costa sounds a bit like someone pulled out of the 1960s and placed at a piano bar with some rhythm guitar to fill things out.  This song might prove to be the most rewarding to listen to again.  "Downfall" is something I've heard a million times.  "Trying to Lose My Mind" is exactly the 60s vibe I've been picking up and oddly enough he sings "Well I met a girl / she didn't like my song / She told me that old songs were better."  I guess he didn't listen.  "Bound" is an attempt at some dark blues, but I don't think Costa has the emotional range to pull it off.  I would guess he just likes that sound (thing Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks"), but it doesn't come close.  It seems the brightness that opened the album has decayed track by track.  I like "Heart of Stone."  This seems like his niche, his voice sounds like John K. Samson from the Weakerthans.  Its clever guitar picking matches his vocal style well and I would put this on the best crafted song so far.  "Miss Magnolia" had potential but his syllabic chorus sounds too much like Mungo Jerry.  Did I mention this album is from the 60s?  I may have been a few years too early in that estimate, but Matt Costa is a few decades late.