Four Women: Nina Simone Philips Recordings
North Carolina-born, classically-trained pianist/singer/composer Nina Simone beautifully blended gospel, blues, jazz, soul, and r&b; into her own spellbinding, sepia-tinged artistry. This four-CD box set was in production before her untimely death on April 21, 2003. It covers Simone's seven albums for the Philips label from 1964 to 1966, and it's a good synopsis of her wide-ranging material. Mostly backed by trios and orchestras, Simone's rich and regal contralto rings with authority, whether she's singingGeorge Gershwin,Duke Ellington,Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas," orBob Dylan's "The Ballad of Hollis Brown." Simone makes them all their own. In fact, this project should cause new generations to reevaluate Simon's own compositions beyond her African-American civil rights anthem, "Mississippi Goddam." Her song "Come Ye" and the title track--a four-part, mini-opus which pays tribute to four black women who embody slavery, mixed race heritage, prostitution, and black militancy--are excellent sneak previews of today's Afrocentric movement.--Eugene Holley, Jr.