Book I Got Thunder Nina Simone

NY Diary (19-10): I Got Thunder, Nina Simone

While researching an article, I came across this 2007 book and got it from the library. Author LaShonda Barnett teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, but she is better known as a Black Music expert, who once even had her own jazz show on WBAI. Her c.v. is impressive.

As the title says, the book has 20 interviews with black women songwriters, with one exception (Dionne Warwick, who never wrote any). I know Abbey Lincoln, Angelique Kidjo, Chaka Khan, Dianne Reeves, Dionne Warwick, Joan Armatrading, Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone but not the rest.

Most of the interviews are quite inspiring. Several themes are recurrent. One is hard work and preparation. Another is resentment towards being pigeonholed: Nina Simone hated being called a jazz artist (as did Ellington); Dionne Warwick hated being classified as adult contemporary music. And then, all the artists were asked how they feel about hip-hop; while they offer limited support, all of them hated the dirty and insulting lyrics.

If you are into black female vocalists, you will like this book.

Nina Simone
Of course, I was most interested in Nina Simone. In the book, she mentioned that she is known everywhere, and that her song To be Young, Gifted and Black has been translated and performed in Chinese! Now, if anyone knows more about that, please let me know! Now, in HK, audiophiles think of her as a jazz singer, something she would not be happy about.

Like many black artists who could not stomach the racism in America, she chose to live abroad, finally settling in France, which was where she died. Many people do not know Nina Simone was a piano prodigy in classical music who wanted to be a classical pianist but was denied entrance into Curtis, for which she remained resentful all her live. Most regard that as racist on the part of Curtis, but there is also evidence to the contrary (here). Nina Simone is known to mix some classical bits into her concerts.

While I was writing, I played my ragged copy of her Nina Simone at Town Hall (Colpix). The concert opened with Black is The Color of My True Love's Hair, and the song opened with a Bach theme (see youtube below). Even more amazing was the lengthier bit of Bach in the middle of the song Love Me or Leave Me embedded by Norman Lebrecht in one of his posts on Simone (here).

The entire Montreux 1976 concert is on youtube. This one moves me to tears.