Nina Simone’s daughter celebrates her mother’s legacy
National Black Arts Festival presents a Tribute to Nina Simone
featuring Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright, Joi and Simone. $20-$55. 8 p.m. Fri., July 31. Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St. 404-733-5000. www.nbaf.org.
High priestess of soul Nina Simone was a true diva. Her imperious manner, both on and off stage, could intimidate audiences and critics alike. But daughter Simone, né Lisa Simone Kelly, hasn’t cowered under her mother’s shadow, even though Nina Simone initially opposed her decision to become a singer. “I’ve created my own path,” says the daughter, who still saw fit to pay tribute to her mother’s legacy with the release of her ’08 solo album, Simone on Simone. “It just so happens that I’m Nina Simone’s daughter as well. It gives me a huge foundation from which to leap.”
Simone, as she prefers to be called, started singing professionally in the early ’90s with touring productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and Rent before joining the Grammy-winning acid jazz group Liquid Soul in ’98. But she didn’t gain her mother’s approval until she appeared on stage with her at the Guinness Blues Festival in Dublin ten years ago.
“On the one hand, she was very proud of me,” Simone recalls. “She would squeal and clap her hands together, and then in the next second she would raise her hands to her cheeks in horror, like ‘Oh my God, my baby, what are they going to do to her.’ ”
Simone saw the business close-up as she watched her father, Nina Simone’s manager Andrew Stroud, help her mother become the first top-billed female act to perform at Carnegie Hall in 1963. But the marriage didn’t survive. The couple split when daughter Simone was nine. “Because I was her only child, she didn’t want me to experience a lot of the challenges, frustrations and disappointments that she did,” she says. A year before her death, Nina got to see her daughter on Broadway in the starring role of the Tim Rice-Elton John version of Aida.
Though Simone intends to showcase more of her own vocal style and songwriting on a sophomore release scheduled for next year, she continues to pay homage to her mother as part of the Sing the Truth tour that features her singing with Nina Simone’s original band. “We have to give honor to the ones who walked before us,” she says. “And in so doing, we’re able to fly.”
COMMENTS
RE: Nina Simone’s daughter celebrates her mother’s legacy
Posted by LovJoy on 08.04.09 @ 07:22 PM
This show was a gem of a treasure....it was powerful and motivating....can't believe it did not sell out...since I bought my tickets on Wednesday....Simone is a light in the dark & with Diane Reeves, Joi, Liz Wright....a man's dream on stage...what more can I say.
Thanks again NBAF for the show.