On Bach Inventions & Sinfonias, pianist Simone Dinnerstein reconnects with the foundation of her musical career and what she’s best known for – a solo album of J.S. Bach’s keyboard works. Dinnerstein gained an international following with the remarkable success of her self-funded recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Released in 2007, the album was #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many “Best of” lists including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the New Yorker. Her Sony Classical debut album, Bach: A Strange Beauty, was also #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart when it was released in 2011. Bach Inventions & Sinfonias (commonly known as the 3-part inventions), features beautiful, well-known music by one of the most popular composers of all time, performed by the pianist that is one of the top Bach interpreters of all time.
Simone Dinnerstein, a graduate of the Juilliard School, is an inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. The Independent praises the “majestic originality of her vision” and NPR reports “She actively listens to every note she plays, and the result is a wonderfully expressive interpretation.” Dinnerstein’s schedule has taken her around the world since her tri- umphant New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2005, performing with such world famous orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and she has also performed at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and the Ravinia Festival.
Grammy-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein's Undersong is the third of a trilogy of albums recorded since the pandemic began. On this program, Dinnerstein delves deeper into what it means to be alive during this time and the role of the artist. "All of the music on this album consists of musical forms that have a refrain. Glass, Schumann, Couperin and Satie constantly revisit the same material in these pieces, worrying at it, shifting it to different harmonies and into different rhythmic shapes. Working with this music in the fall of 2020 was a constant reminder that in my afternoon walk in Greenwood Cemetery, I was quite literally treading a familiar path every day, a path that nonetheless had changed almost imperceptibly every time I left the house. Undersong is an archaic term for a song with a refrain, and to me it also suggests a hidden text. Glass, Schumann, Couperin and Satie all seem to be attempting to find what they want to say through repetition, as though their constant change and recycling will focus the ear and the mind. This is music to get lost in."
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing in deluxe gatefold jacket. Wild Is The Wind, Nina Simone's sixth album for Philips, has all the variety her work for the label was known for-from the minimal title track to the traditional folk song "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair" to the banned-on-radio "Four Women". In 2020, the album was ranked 212 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes.
The performers write: ‘Selecting the repertoire for our album Path to the Moon, we wanted to explore a number of possibilities for binding together a programme. To place different works alongside one another is a wonderful way of bringing out new and unusual qualities in each piece. William T. Horton’s fantastic image The Path to the Moon immediately inspired a flurry of ideas, including works on the subjects of both night and the moon, as well as pieces which invoke the exploratory nature of humankind’s voyage to the moon. Britten wrote his Sonata for Cello and Piano only two years after the first object made by humans had touched the surface of the moon, in 1959. Humans throughout history and from all cultures have been drawn to and taken inspiration from the moon and we have tried to reflect this in our eclectic choice of song repertoire: from Toru Takemitsu to Nina Simone and from Lili Boulanger to Florence Price. As we hope you will hear on this album, Walker’s Cello Sonata rings with echoes of the sound-worlds of blues and jazz and is infused with a beautiful lyricism. We really believe that Walker’s Cello Sonata deserves to become a staple of the chamber music repertoire and are absolutely thrilled to offer you a recording of it in the context of our own exploration of a path to the moon.’
Hidden Heartache is 100 minutes of piano music from the last 100 years in the context of social inequality and unequal power relations. The Swiss pianist Simone Keller is both courageous and fearless with an eye for the essentials and for the big issues of the day. The album is a self portrait and an homage, with Keller asking herself which piano music of the last 100 years deserves greater attention. « It soon becomes obvious that there are thousands of hours of unheard, unplayed works by underrepresented composers. The selection I ultimately made is very personal, and closely connected to my own pianistic activities. But it was also very important to me that Hidden Heartache should not merely gather together historical figures, but also present compositions of today that reveal varied perspectives on societal and power inequalities while at the same time paying homage to the music of Julius Eastman and Julia Amanda Perry. These new works by the Swiss composers Jessie Cox and Cristina Janett, and the Americans Julie Herndon and Jessie Marino, were created in direct collaboration with me », writes Simone Keller.
Recorded in 1985 after a break from recording and time spent living in Barbados and Liberia, Nina's Back features a rejuvenated Nina Simone reaching out to a wider musical audience. Featuring a number of memorable original Simone compositions, the band includes horns and backup singers for a recording that's unique in Nina's catalog. Previously released originally on LP and cassette 1985 and CD in 1988 - all with older album covers.
Throughout her career, Nina's music has inspired audiences of all ages, races, and nationalities. Created with the newest generation of Nina Simone fans in mind, Great Women of Song features the best of the best. Miss Simone's most loved and notable hits assembled in one package. From the evergreen track "Feeling Good," to the mysteriously romantic remake of "I Put a Spell on You" and many more, the album is the gift that will keep on giving.
NINA SIMONE IN CONCERT (VERVE ACOUSTIC SOUNDS SER)
VERVE
Vinyl
$42.49Dec 13, 2024
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. "Mississippi Goddam" staked out Nina Simone's support of the Civil Rights movement when this album debuted in 1964, helping make it probably the most personal album that Simone issued during her stay on Philips during the decade. Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded, Verve's Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings. All titles are mastered from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged by Stoughton Printing Co. In high-quality gatefold sleeves with tip-on jackets. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings.
Vinyl LP pressing. I Put a Spell on You is the 1965 album by Nina Simone, and features some of her best known songs. "I Put a Spell on You" is a song originally by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. The original version gave the song an ironic theme, but Simone transformed it into a thrilling love song, complete with horns and strings. It had become one of her most well-known songs. Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist who worked in a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Simone's musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
Vinyl LP pressing. Nina Simone's sixth album for Philips Records was Wild Is the Wind, released in 1966. The album was compiled from several recordings that were left over from sessions for previous Philips albums. The song "Four Women" was released as a single, and gained attention when banned by the New York jazz focused radio station WLIB due to concern over the lyrics. "Wild Is The Wind" was covered by David Bowie on his 1976 studio recording Station to Station. Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist who worked in a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Simone's musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
The Montreux Jazz Festival takes place for two weeks every summer in Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva. Created in 1967 by Claude Nobs, the Montreux Jazz Festival has become over the years an essential event, generating fantastic stories and legendary performances. In it's 50 year plus history, Montreux has hosted iconic performances by artists including Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. The High Priestess of Soul made five appearances at the Montreux Festival between 1968 and 1990. The essential 180g vinyl 2LP compilation The Montreux Years gathers material from all five of her storied performances (1968, 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1990) there and serves as one of Simone's definitive live collections!
Nina Simone and Her Friends is a 1959 album released by the Bethlehem Records label that compiled songs by jazz singers Nina Simone, Carmen McRae and Chris Connor. All three artists had left the label and signed with other companies by the time Bethlehem released this album. The numbers by Simone were previously unissued "left overs" from the recording sessions for her debut album Little Girl Blue (1958) and released without her knowledge. The tracks by Chris Connor and Carmen McRae were already issued together this way as Bethlehem's Girlfriends in 1956 accompanied by the debut recording session of Julie London.
Nina Simone and Her Friends is a 1959 album released by the Bethlehem Records label that compiled songs by jazz singers Nina Simone, Carmen McRae and Chris Connor. All three artists had left the label and signed with other companies by the time Bethlehem released this album. The numbers by Simone were previously unissued "left overs" from the recording sessions for her debut album Little Girl Blue (1958) and released without her knowledge. The tracks by Chris Connor and Carmen McRae were already issued together this way as Bethlehem's Girlfriends in 1956 accompanied by the debut recording session of Julie London.
Remastered 180-gram vinyl. Here Comes the Sun (1971) is an album by jazz singer-pianist Nina Simone, consisting of cover versions of songs by Pop and Rock musicians. It features songs recorded in the RCA studios with a full orchestra and backing vocals.
