''Nina Simone at Newport'' is a live

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer and musician

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

. It was released in August 1960; the recording taken from a concert held at the

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

earlier in the year, on 30 June 1960. The album was her fourth overall, and her third for

Colpix Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement o ...

; it was also her second live album, following on from ''

Nina Simone at Town Hall ''Nina Simone at Town Hall'' (aka ''At Town Hall'') is the third album by Nina Simone, released in December 1959. It was her third album of that year, her second album for Colpix Records, and her first live album. Or rather, mostly live. The basis ...

'' (1959) released at the end of the previous year. All arrangements on ''Nina Simone at Newport'' were written by Simone, and it was produced by Stu Phillips.

Overview

Simone had been prolific in 1959, the year of her first releases. There had been three albums, '' Little Girl Blue'' (February 1959), from

Bethlehem Records Bethlehem Records was an American jazz independent record label, founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. History Bethlehem is remembered for its jazz releases from the 1950s. Producers included Creed Taylor and Teddy Charles. Bethlehem released the first ...

, and from

Colpix Records Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement ov ...

, '' The Amazing Nina Simone'' (July 1959) and ''

'' (December 1959). The first two had been studio alabums, while ''At Town Hall'' had been a live album (albeit with three tracks re-recorded in the studio). She had also had a number of singles released from both Bethlehem Records and Colpix Records, with an early track from ''Little Girl Blue'' becoming a hit: '

I Loves You, Porgy "I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the 1935 opera ''Porgy and Bess'' with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was performed in the opera's premiere in 1935 and on Broadway the same year by Anne Brown and Todd Duncan. They re ...

' (1959). In the wake of her successes in 1959, Simone was headlining at concert halls and clubs and touring extensively during 1960. On 30 June that year came the band's biggest gig yet - the fifth annual

. The gig was recorded and released around a month later in August 1960. ''Nina Simone at Newport'' was on the Billboard album chart for more than a month, at its peak rising to number twenty-three.

Track listing

Personnel

*Nina Simone – vocals, piano * Al Schackman – guitar * Chris White – bass *Bobby Hamilton – drums

Charts

References

Albums recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival 1960 live albums Nina Simone live albums Colpix Records albums 1960 in Rhode Island {{1960s-album-stub