Nina Simone's At the Village Gate

Nina Simone’s lively live rendition of “Just In Time” at the Village Gate in New York in 1961 is one of my favorite standards, with her recording topping the many great attempts at the ballad. As part of an album that represents Simone’s early interests in African and folk music, hearing her get down on this beautiful jazz standard is a reminder to any and everybody that Simone entered music through jazz. Her piano solo, though very simple and almost classical, given her background in classical music before singing, is quite cute. The band plays perfectly here, too, swinging appropriately while Simone tickles the ivory. She cleverly plays around the melody until playing the chorus again on her piano, leading to her conclusion of the song with vocals, showing off her amazing breath. “Oh, baby, I was lost, the losing dice were tossed, my friends had all crossed, nowhere to go, now you’re here, now I know just where I’m going…” Besides lovely jazz standards like “Just In Time,” Simone treats the audience at the Village Gate to her early forays into folk and African music, such as the cute “Zungo,” a Yoruba tune she learned from Olatunji, a Nigerian drummer whose music would also influence John Coltrane in the early 1960s. She even sings some African-American and Afrocentric-themed songs, such as the gospel-jazz of “Children, Go Where I Send You” and “Brown Baby” a sparsely arranged song featuring Simone’s strong vocals and light piano. Her androgynous, unique voice emotes hope and optimistic while she sings majestically to great heights while lulling this ‘brown baby’ to sleep.

Her take on classics such as “Bye Bye Blackbird” show off classical influences, until the drummer starts swinging and clear, clean-cut electric guitar joins. It’s funky, exciting, swinging hard, and nice to hear, as on “Just In Time,” Simone in her jazz context. Her piano solo sounds like someone playing classical fugues or practices at times, but she knows what she is doing even if she does not adhere to bop jazz soloing styles at times. Also, like Bud Powell, she hums along and scats with her soloing, another treat for attentive listeners! Moreover, jams like “He Was Too Good To Me” show another side of the contemplative, smooth balladry of Simone, who begins the song with just her voice, light accompaniment and real fervor for this man who was too good to her, “When I was mean to him, he didn’t say go away now…” I don’t know what she is doing with her piano, but things become more complex with arpeggios and accented accompaniment while a little more tempo is added before returning to the original, less triumphant, majestic chorus. Similarly, “If He Had Changed My Name” begins with just her voice and piano, singing that it would be okay if Jesus changed her name. 

She adds in some bluesy elements to her voice with her utterly sublime melisma and appropriately solemn piano accompaniment. Of course, for those who dislike Nina for ‘sounding like an old man’ or just generally dislike her voice, then songs like these will not be enjoyed. For the vast majority of us, however, Simone’s voice is achingly beautiful, solely hers, rich with emotion and deep with pain, sophistication, and character. Even on songs like the aforementioned Yoruba work song, “Zungo,” with its simple melody and “African” accompaniment from the guitarist, Simone’s piano, and the drums, showcases her unique voice singing in the beautiful Yoruba language, far better than Olatunji’s own version of “Zungo.” Of course, what album could be complete without Simone taking her audience to a revival meeting in “Children, Go Where I Send You,” my favorite song from the album. Thus, any fan of Nina Simone’s later work in the 1960s or her earlier, jazz-oriented releases from the late 1950s and early 1960s, this album is recommended. We see Simone’s political consciousness, her own singing talent, her interest in African music and folk, as well as her soulful, melancholic “House of the Rising Son," which also sounds ancient in her plaintive style.