I’ve been so immersed in the metal world lately that sometimes I forget that I like other music. I especially forget that weird thrill of going mostly blind into a show. Sure, I may not know an opener or two, but it’s pretty rare for me to cover a band I haven’t listened to beforehand. It’s both exciting and nerve-wracking and, let’s face it, no one wants to be disappointed. Luckily for me, I at least knew of the other music projects of the artists on the night’s lineup, but even knowing that, did not prepare me for what I was about to experience.
Some legendary figures defy easy categorization. When we talk about Nina Simone, the High Priestess of Soul, do we talk first about her prodigious piano playing? Or about her penetrating, arresting, smokey voice? The voice that demands that we pay attention, that we think, as well as feel? This is a voice of a revolution, one that challenges the listener. This is the bold voice of an activist, who does not have time for your shit. Listen! Her voice challenges us – it’s the expansive sound, the hard edges, the enunciation of every syllable, and the content. Simone sang relatively few ballads compared with other jazz singers of the day, choosing instead songs with a more political message that does not seek to comfort, but rather to undermine the listener’s comfort. Simone focused on uncomfortable songs. Some, like Lilac Wine, or Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, are about loneliness and heartache. Others, like the standard Strange Fruit, or her own song, Mississippi Goddam, are political songs about the unjust murder of black people at the hands of white people in the South.