After Hours

Performer: Nina Simone
Producer: Hal Mooney...
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Nina Simone (vocals, piano); Rudy Stevenson (flute, guitar); Al Shackman (harmonica, guitar); Lisle Atkinson (bass); Bobby Hamilton (drums). Principally recorded in New York from 1964 to 1966. Includes liner notes by Joel E. Siegel. Personnel: Nina Simone (vocals); Rudy Stevenson (guitar, flute); Al Shackman (guitar, harmonica); Bobby Hamilton (drums). Liner Note Author: Joel Siegel. Recording information: New York, NY (03/21/1964-08/??/1966). Editor: Peter Pullman. Photographer: Lee Tanner. Arrangers: Hal Mooney; Horace Ott; Nina Simone. Verve gets a lot of mileage out of its jazz catalog by repackaging a lot of material under loose thematic configurations. After Hours, as you could probably guess from the title, focuses on Simone's jazz ballads, with 16 tracks from her mid-'60s Philips albums. The material is pretty good -- "Wild Is the Wind," "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "I Loves You Porgy," and Van McCoy's "For Myself" are all among her best sides from the period. But Simone was an eclectic who could handle much more than jazzy ballads. Unless you know for sure that you prefer this facet of her work above all else, the more wide-ranging Verve Jazz Masters 17 is a much better introduction to her mid-'60s work. However, this might make a nice supplement for fans who want to dig a little deeper. The only bonus of this collection is an unedited version of "Little Girl Blue." ~ Richie Unterberger

JazzTimes (7-8/95, p.115) - "...a ballads anthology from the High Priestess of African-American song. With a contralto voice as deeply affecting and full of intense feeling as any we've known, Nina Simone turns each song into its own passion play and never so much as with ballads..."

Nina Simone was a great pianist, a riveting vocalist, and an uncompromising personality. Her sociopolitical consciousness and eclecticism set her apart from the pack. Her interpretations of soul, jazz, blues, and standards are both striking and unique; not for nothing do her fans refer to her as "the Goddess." She established her jazz credentials with an emotive interpretation of George Gershwin 's 'I Loves You Porgy' in 1959. Her influential '60s work included "Forbidden Fruit" and "I Put A Spell On You." One of her singles, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," later became a worldwide hit for the Animals. In later years, she recorded less frequently, but in 1987, while in self-imposed exile in France, she had a fluke hit after her '50s version of "My Baby Just Cares For Me," was resurrected in a TV commercial. Simone died in 2003 at her home in France at age 70.

* Estimated Delivery Dates are based on anticipated order processing and transit times, and are not guaranteed dates.

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.3

Shipping Options and Policies