Nina Simone

2022 press.
Prime early-60s Nina, equal parts smoky and sharp. Forbidden Fruit finds her gliding between torch songs, blues standards, and sly social commentary with that mix of power and restraint only she could pull off. The piano playing’s cool and classy, the vocals cut right to the bone - it’s the sound of an artist already bigger than any genre box you could try to put her in. FFO: Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Carmen McRae