Gifted & Black

Gifted & Black is the twentieth studio album by jazz singer, pianist and songwriter Nina Simone. It was released on August 25, 1970, by Canyon Records (Hollywood).

Gifted & Black
Studio album by
Nina Simone
Released1970 (1970)
StudioRPM Studios, Los Angeles[1]
GenreVocal jazz, jazz, blues, soul and funk
Length33:32
LabelCanyon Records
ProducerStroud Productions and Enterprises, Inc.[1]
Nina Simone chronology
A Very Rare Evening
(1969)		 Gifted & Black
(1970)		 The Best of Nina Simone
(1970)

Background

Roger Nupie, in a personal communication with The Nina Simone Database, who suggest these may be Simone's earliest existing recordings and may have been "made in Philadelphia 1955(?)", states that there is "no info" about the date, location or musicians. He goes on to state that the album was "originally not intended for release" and that Andrew Stroud, Simone's manager, added strings arranged by Monk Higgins to eight tracks and released them as "Gifted and Black" in 1970.[2] Another source indicates that the album was possibly recorded in 1967[3] at RPM Studios, Los Angeles.[1]

Critical Reception

Rolling Stone said in a contemporary review: "It's not that this album, recorded around 1967 (?), is misrepresentative of what Nina is currently up to, and does a disservice to an exceptional artist's career. It's not that the strings, which are dubbed over her piano trio are in poor, nay, bad taste. It's not that it sounds as though the recording mikes were placed down the hall from the studio, in the toilet, perhaps. It's not that "The Thrill is Gone" is absolutely the most embarrassing musical miscarriage I've ever heard. No, it's not any of these at all. It's just that this album is pisspoor."[3] However, although Richard Mortifoglio for AllMusic called the sound "decidedly lo-fi", he also considered it "something of a lost cabaret masterpiece ... as if she was channeling the great cabaret artist Mabel Mercer, reminding us that apart from her deserved reputation as a socially significant African-American artist, Nina Simone was also an outstanding interpreter of the Great American Songbook."[4]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Black Is the Color"Nina Simone3:06
2."Since My Love Is Gone"Herbert Wasserman, Jack Aaron3:57
3."Blue Prelude"Gordon Jenkins, Joe Bishop4:36
4."Spring Is Here"Rodgers & Hart4:19
5."Porgy"DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin3:59
6."Remind Me"Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern3:41
7."Near to You"Henry King - Carl Sigman4:22
8."The Thrill Is Gone"Lew Brown, Ray Henderson5:32

Credit
  • Nina Simone – Arranger, Composer, Primary Artist
  • Bennie Benjamin – Composer
  • Gloria Caldwell – Composer
  • Henry Creamer – Composer
  • Richie Havens – Composer
  • Fletcher Hendersor – Composer
  • Jan Hendin – Composer
  • Weldon Irvine – Composer
  • Leroy Kirkland – Composer
  • Turner Layton – Composer
  • Galt MacDermot – Composer
  • Sol Marcus – Composer

References
  1. "Nina Simone – Gifted & Black". discogs.com. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  2. "The Nina Simone Database - 1955 Philadelphia (US-PA)". boscarol.com. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  3. "Gifted & Black". rollingstone.com. August 6, 1970. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  4. Richard Mortifoglio. "Nina Simone Live at Berkeley/Gifted & Black". allmusic.com. Retrieved October 25, 2018.


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