Simone

Written by Jacquinn Williams   

Languishing in the gargantuan shadow of her mother — the great jazz contralto Nina Simone — is just not Simone’s style. She’s her own woman. Blessed with the gift of song, Simone is a full-fledged Broadway star who has starred in many a show from “Rent” to “Aida” and continues to wow crowds everywhere with exuberant vocal acrobatics.

Friday night at World Café Live, Simone, whose real name is Lisa Celeste Stroud, entertained fans with a few original tunes and renditions of her mother’s classics. Her mom, Nina Simone, was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon and first aspired to be a classical pianist. However, her musical tastes and abilities stretched far beyond any one genre. As a teenager she moved to Philadelphia where she taught piano and was a freelance accompanist to help fund her education at Julliard. Nina Simone garnered a small but loyal fan base from performing in bars and later gained popularity after recording a rendition of Gershwin’s “I Love You Porgy.”

A career that spanned many decades and transcended color lines, Nina Simone’s voice had the ability to express a range of emotions from passion in one measure to pain in another.

From the very first note, it was evident that the apple did not fall far from the tree. Though her vocal range surpasses her mother’s, the younger Simone performs with reckless abandon. She’s less controlled and her enthusiasm is contagious. With a four-piece band, Simone sang, groaned and grooved through some of the elder Simone’s most memorable works. “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair,” “Love Me or Leave Me” and “Misunderstood” were some of the night’s most beautiful pieces.

Simone’s love of music was fostered through her mother’s work and the music that surrounded her while traveling with her mother to gigs. Though music was an integral part of Simone’s upbringing, she planned on being a lawyer, not a performer. As a rebellious young adult, she joined the military and worked as a civil engineer. Her first performance came in Germany while still in the military where she performed at a bar. Through word of mouth, Simone started a gig as a background singer and decided to change her life’s direction.

Skipping over some of her mother’s more controversial and/or poignant songs such as “Mississippi Goddamn,” “Four Women” and “Strange Fruit,” this tall, fiery singer clad in a black cat suit and wearing long blond locs kept the tone light and the spirit high.

Seemingly tireless, Simone took a break to talk about how proud she was of her mother. She spoke of her mother’s friendship with Miriam Makeba, how growing up with a musical icon as a mom affected her and how much she missed her.

But, it wasn’t until Simone slowed it down a bit and performed “I Don’t Want Him You Can Have Him” that for a moment, a mere measure or two, it seemed as if Nina was singing it herself. 

For more information on Simone, visit www.simonesworld.com. Her album, “Simone on Simone,” is in stores now.