Broadway Blues Ballads

There's a lot more Broadway and a lot more ballads than blues on this, which ranks as one of Simone's weaker mid-'60s albums. Almost half the record features Broadway tunes on the order of Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hammerstein; most of the rest was composed by Bennie Benjamin, author of her first-rate "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," which the Animals covered for a hit shortly afterwards (and which leads off this record). The other Benjamin tunes are modified uptown soul with string arrangements and backup vocals in the vein of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," but aren't in the same league, although "How Can I?" is an engaging cha-cha. Besides "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," the album is most notable for the great "SeeLine Woman," a percolating call-and-response number that ranks as one of her best tracks.

Nina Simone - Four Women: The Nina Simone Philips Recordings (1964-1966) {2003 Verve Deluxe 4-CD Set}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.46 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 602 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 218 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1964-66, 2003 Philips / Verve / Universal | 440 065 021-2
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Torch Songs / Soul / Blues / American Popular Song / Standards

Nina Simone recorded seven albums for the Philips label between 1964 and 1966. It was the period in her career in which her reputation was cemented as a world-class artist, and one in which she gained fame for her contributions to the civil rights movement as well. Despite the fact that she recorded great albums both before and after her years with Philips (most notably with RCA), her Philips period is easily her most enigmatic. Among her Philips recordings are her live label debut and six studio recordings featuring wildly varying instrumentation, arrangements, and contents. The box contains all seven LPs on four CDs, and includes one bonus track.

By 1980, when Broadway was recorded, organist Richard "Groove" Holmes had already splashed onto the scene as an expansive adherent of Jimmy Smith's soul-jazz gospel, been a player in the music's modern boogaloo-acid jazz phase of the late '60s, and survived disco by dropping synthesizers into the mix. Finally arriving at the Muse label by the late '70s, Holmes settled into a loose amalgam of past proclivities, never forsaking his high musical standards and groove aesthetic. For this, his third Muse release, Holmes enlists fellow organ combo veteran Houston Person to produce and ostensibly co-lead on tenor saxophone; for his part, Holmes sublimely comps behind the soloists, electrifying the session with his fluidly nasty runs and sanctified musings on the B3…

By 1980, when Broadway was recorded, organist Richard "Groove" Holmes had already splashed onto the scene as an expansive adherent of Jimmy Smith's soul-jazz gospel, been a player in the music's modern boogaloo-acid jazz phase of the late '60s, and survived disco by dropping synthesizers into the mix. Finally arriving at the Muse label by the late '70s, Holmes settled into a loose amalgam of past proclivities, never forsaking his high musical standards and groove aesthetic. For this, his third Muse release, Holmes enlists fellow organ combo veteran Houston Person to produce and ostensibly co-lead on tenor saxophone; for his part, Holmes sublimely comps behind the soloists, electrifying the session with his fluidly nasty runs and sanctified musings on the B3…