Nina Simone

Little Girl Blue (BCP6028)

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Little Girl Blue

Nina Simone

Pure Pleasure

5060149621721

LPS 147045

BCP6028

JAZZ

1

Little Girl Blue

More details

LP 33,98 €

4 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE

Little Girl Blue, released in 1957, was Nina Simone's first recording, originally issued on the Bethlehem label. Backed by bassist Jimmy Bond and Albert "Tootie" Heath, it showcases her ballad voice as one of mystery and sensuality and showcases her up-tempo jazz style with authority and an enigmatic down-home feel that is nonetheless elegant. The album also introduced a fine jazz pianist. Simone was a solid improviser who never strayed far from the blues. Check the opener, her reading of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo," which finger-pops and swings while keeping the phrasing deep-blue. It is contrasted immediately with one of the -- if not the -- definitive reads of Willard Robison's steamy leave-your-lover ballad "Don't Smoke in Bed." The title track, written by Rodgers & Hart, features "Good King Wenceslas" as a classical prelude to one of the most beautiful pop ballads ever written.

PERSONNEL:

NINA SIMONE, piano, vocals
JIMMY BOND, bass
ALBERT "TOOTIE" HEATH, drums

New York, prob. December, 1957.

SIDE A:

01.Mood Indigo
02.Don't Smoke In Bed
03.He Needs Me
04.Little Girl Blue
05.Love Me Or Leave Me
06.My Baby Just Care For Me

SIDE B:

01.Good Bait
02.Plain Gold Ring
03.You'll Never Walk Alone
04.Porgy
05.Central Park Blues