Nina Simone: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Nina Simone built her art on a fracture: a classically trained pianist denied Curtis Institute admission who turned Bach counterpoint into a weapon of Black protest song. This mix traces the baroque discipline, Brechtian theater, Harlem Renaissance literature and civil-rights friendships that fed her, and the generations who have since claimed her as a mother tongue.

The Kynda mix for Nina Simone

• Key Influence · The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach (1722). Simone named Bach the foundation of everything she played, and the debt is audible: the fugal left-hand runs inside "Love Me or Leave Me," the counterpoint she improvised under her own vocal lines. Trained from childhood in Tryon by Muriel Mazzanovich toward a concert career, she studied at Juilliard and was rejected by the Curtis Institute, a wound she blamed on race. The preludes and fugues remained her technical home even in nightclubs.
• Influencia Obscura · The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht (1928). Simone's most frightening performance is "Pirate Jenny," the Weill-Brecht song from Threepenny Opera, which she recorded for Nina Simone in Concert in 1964 and relocated to a Southern hotel where the scrubbing maid awaits a ship that will kill the town. Brecht's alienation technique — address the audience, indict them — shaped her concert manner as much as any jazz singer, and she returned to Weill repertoire repeatedly.
• Local Roots · Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues by Odetta (1956). Simone emerged through the same Greenwich Village circuit — the Village Gate, Village Vanguard — that made Odetta the voice of the folk revival's Black wing. Both carried trained, formidable low voices into rooms expecting entertainment, and both were absorbed into the civil-rights movement's soundtrack. Simone's folk-leaning sides of the early 1960s, from "Cotton Eyed Joe" to "House of the Rising Sun," belong to that shared scene.
• Beyond the Medium · To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry (1969). Hansberry was Simone's close friend and, by Simone's own account, the person who taught her to think of herself politically rather than merely as a performer. After Hansberry's death at 34, Simone took the title of her posthumously assembled autobiographical work and wrote the 1969 anthem "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" with Weldon Irvine. The playwright's insistence on Black interiority as drama reshaped Simone's entire repertoire.
• Peer · We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite by Max Roach (1960). Released four years before "Mississippi Goddam," Roach's suite was the opening shot of explicitly civil-rights jazz, and it placed Abbey Lincoln's voice in the same confrontational position Simone would claim. Roach and Simone moved through overlapping New York activist and festival circles in the sixties. The album's wordless screams and sit-in narratives define the artistic context in which her protest writing was received.
• From the Canon · Nina Simone in Concert by Nina Simone (1964). Her first Philips release and the pivot of the career: recorded live at Carnegie Hall, it carries both "Mississippi Goddam" and "Pirate Jenny," the protest song and the Brecht adaptation, plus "Old Jim Crow." The album documents the exact moment she stopped being a nightclub interpreter of standards and became a movement artist, speaking to the audience between numbers with a hostility and humor no contemporary matched.
• Key Collaborator · Liberated Brother by Weldon Irvine (1972). Irvine served as Simone's musical director in the late sixties and wrote the lyrics to "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" to her music, giving the Black Arts movement one of its anthems. His own debut as a leader shows the keyboard-driven spiritual jazz-funk he was developing alongside her, and his catalog later became foundational sampling material for hip-hop producers, carrying her orbit into another generation.
• Legacy · Pour une âme souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone by Meshell Ndegeocello (2012). Ndegeocello devoted an entire album to Simone's repertoire, recruiting Cody ChesnuTT, Valerie June, Toshi Reagon and Sinéad O'Connor to reinterpret "Four Women," "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "Suzanne." The project is the most sustained artistic homage in the catalog, and it extends Simone's genre-refusal — a bassist-songwriter who moves between funk, jazz and folk because categories were never the point.

What influenced Nina Simone

• Billie Holiday (1915). Simone learned the song from a Billie Holiday album. (also via I Put a Spell on You, Strange Fruit) “It included George Gershwin 's " I Loves You, Porgy " (from Porgy and Bess ), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend.” (Wikipedia)
• Abel Meeropol. Mississippi Goddam (Nina Simone) — legacy for Abel Meeropol (via Mississippi Goddam, Strange Fruit) “The song was recorded and performed by Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Johann Sebastian Bach. The article identifies Bach as a strong influence on Simone’s piano playing. (also via The Well-Tempered Clavier) “Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach , [ 2 ] [ 3 ] and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.” (Wikipedia)
• Lorraine Hansberry. The article reports Simone’s own attribution of political influence to Hansberry. (also via To Be Young, Gifted and Black) “She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness.” (Wikipedia)
• Carl Friedberg. Simone studied with Friedberg at Juilliard. “After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg , preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia .” (Wikipedia)
• Vladimir Sokoloff. Simone took private piano lessons from Sokoloff. “Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff , a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply.” (Wikipedia)
• 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Ham connects the bombing to a change in Simone’s music. “She felt very strongly after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and the murder of Medgar Evers that her music needed to change direction.” (People’s Light)
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (1963). The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin) — culture for Nina Simone “While in New York, Simone became friends with civil rights and gay rights activists and artists such as James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Lorraine Hansberry, with whom she would also collaborate professionally (see below).” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Panther and the Lash by Langston Hughes (1967). The Panther and the Lash (Langston Hughes) — culture for Nina Simone “While in New York, Simone became friends with civil rights and gay rights activists and artists such as James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Lorraine Hansberry, with whom she would also collaborate professionally (see below).” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sergei Rachmaninoff. The article connects Simone’s playing to Rachmaninoff’s piano repertoire. “Besides using Bach -style counterpoint , she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire— Chopin , Liszt , Rachmaninoff , and others.” (Wikipedia)
• Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday. Strange Fruit (Billie Holiday) — titan for Nina Simone “It included George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Simone Signoret. Simone Signoret inspired the singer’s stage surname. “"Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret , whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or .” (Wikipedia)
• Murder of Medgar Evers. Ham connects Evers’s murder to a change in Simone’s music. “She felt very strongly after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and the murder of Medgar Evers that her music needed to change direction.” (People’s Light)
• The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach (1722). The Well-Tempered Clavier (Johann Sebastian Bach) — titan for Nina Simone “Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht (1928). The Threepenny Opera (Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht) — ghost for Nina Simone “His music has since been recorded by many performers, ranging from Nina Simone, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, The Doors, Milva, Willie Nelson, Ella Fitzgerald, David Bowie, Robbie Williams, Judy Collins, John Zorn, Dagmar Krause, Steeleye…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Franz Liszt. The article connects Simone’s playing to Liszt’s piano repertoire. “Besides using Bach -style counterpoint , she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire— Chopin , Liszt , Rachmaninoff , and others.” (Wikipedia)
• Frédéric Chopin. The article connects Simone’s playing to Chopin’s piano repertoire. “Besides using Bach -style counterpoint , she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire— Chopin , Liszt , Rachmaninoff , and others.” (Wikipedia)
• Ballad for Americans by Paul Robeson (1940). Ballad for Americans (Paul Robeson) — titan for Nina Simone (musicbrainz.org)
• To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry (1969). To Be Young, Gifted and Black (Lorraine Hansberry) — culture for Nina Simone “While in New York, Simone became friends with civil rights and gay rights activists and artists such as James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Lorraine Hansberry, with whom she would also collaborate professionally (see below).” (en.wikipedia.org)

Peers and kindred spirits

• Strange Fruit by Abel Meeropol (1937). The article identifies Simone’s recording as a rendition of a song earlier recorded by Holiday. “The 1965 rendition of " Strange Fruit ", originally recorded by Billie Holiday , was sampled by Kanye West for " Blood on the Leaves " on his album Yeezus .” (Wikipedia)
• Stephen Cleary by Stephen Cleary. The autobiography’s credits name Simone and Cleary together. “I PUT A SPELL ON YOU THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NINA SIMONE NINA SIMONE & STEPHEN CLEARY ebury press - 1991” (The Official Home of Nina Simone)
• Weldon Irvine. Simone and Irvine created the song together. (also via Liberated Brother) “Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name .” (Wikipedia)
• Langston Hughes (1902). Simone recorded a song written by Hughes. (also via The Panther and the Lash) “She sang "Backlash Blues" written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes , on her first RCA Victor album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967).” (Wikipedia)
• Ne me quitte pas by Jacques Brel (1959). Simone’s recording is identified as a rendition of Brel’s song. “"I Put a Spell on You", " Ne me quitte pas " (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song), and " Feeling Good " on I Put a Spell On You (1965);” (Wikipedia)
• The Animals. The Animals covered a song originally recorded by Nina Simone. (via Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood) “"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and her takes on " Sinnerman " ( Pastel Blues , 1965) and "Feeling Good" have remained popular in cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by the Animals ),” (Wikipedia)
• Richard Pryor (1940). Establishes Pryor performing as opener for Nina Simone early in his career. “On one of his first nights, he opened for singer and pianist Nina Simone at New York's Village Gate .” (Wikipedia)
• Zungo by Michael Olatunji. Simone recorded Michael Olatunji’s song. “She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962.” (Wikipedia)
• I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free by Billy Taylor. Simone recorded Billy Taylor’s song. “On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor 's " I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free " and "Turning Point".” (Wikipedia)
• Gene Taylor. Simone performed a song written by her bass player Gene Taylor. “She dedicated the performance to him and sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor .” (Wikipedia)
• Hair. Miller identifies two songs from Hair among Simone’s covers. “The songs she wrote are amazing but some of those covers she did really blew me away like those two songs from the musical Hair” (Cinephiled)
• Liberated Brother by Weldon Irvine (1972). Liberated Brother (Weldon Irvine) — collaborator for Nina Simone “Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• I Loves You, Porgy by George Gershwin. Simone recorded and performed Gershwin’s song. “It included George Gershwin 's " I Loves You, Porgy " (from Porgy and Bess ), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend.” (Wikipedia)
• To Love Somebody by Bee Gees. Simone released a rendition of the Bee Gees’ song. “The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees ' " To Love Somebody ", reached the UK Top 10 in 1969.” (Wikipedia)
• Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba (1967). Pata Pata (Miriam Makeba) — peer for Nina Simone “A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Stars by Janis Ian. The article explicitly calls Simone’s recording a cover of Janis Ian’s song. “Simone's cover of Janis Ian 's " Stars " is played during the final moments of the season 3 finale of BoJack Horseman (2016),” (Wikipedia)
• Rich Girl by Hall & Oates. Simone recorded Hall & Oates’ song. “Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates ' " Rich Girl ".” (Wikipedia)
• Brown Baby by Oscar Brown. Simone included Oscar Brown’s song in her repertoire. “She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962.” (Wikipedia)
• Aretha Franklin. Franklin recorded a rendition of Simone and Irvine’s song. (via To Be Young, Gifted and Black) “A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black ) and Donny Hathaway .” (Wikipedia)
• Donny Hathaway. Hathaway recorded a rendition of Simone and Irvine’s song. (via To Be Young, Gifted and Black) “A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black ) and Donny Hathaway .” (Wikipedia)
• Abbey Lincoln. Nina Simone in Concert (Nina Simone) — peer for Abbey Lincoln (via Nina Simone in Concert, Straight Ahead) (musicbrainz.org)
• Calypso by Harry Belafonte (1956). Calypso (Harry Belafonte) — geography for Nina Simone (musicbrainz.org)
• Straight Ahead by Abbey Lincoln (1961). Straight Ahead (Abbey Lincoln) — peer for Nina Simone (musicbrainz.org)
• A Love Supreme by John Coltrane (1965). A Love Supreme (John Coltrane) — geography for Nina Simone (musicbrainz.org)
• The Blues and the Abstract Truth by Oliver Nelson (1961). The Blues and the Abstract Truth (Oliver Nelson) — collaborator for Nina Simone (musicbrainz.org)
• We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite. We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite (Max Roach) — peer for Nina Simone (musicbrainz.org)
• Eartha Kitt (1927). I Put a Spell on You (Nina Simone) — peer for Eartha Kitt (via I Put a Spell on You) (musicbrainz.org)
• Jazz Samba by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd (1962). Jazz Samba (Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd) — collaborator for Nina Simone
• Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues by Odetta (1956). Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues (Odetta) — geography for Nina Simone

Who Nina Simone influenced

• Jeff Buckley (1966). Buckley named Nina Simone as an influence. (also via Pastel Blues, Lilac Wine, That's All I Ask) “He cited singers including Joni Mitchell , Nina Simone , Billie Holiday , Patti Smith and Siouxsie Sioux as influences” (Wikipedia)
• Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone. The stage show takes Simone as its subject and inspiration. “I realised I couldn’t just sing her songs, I needed to talk about the political aspect of her work.” (The Guardian)
• Nina Simone: Four Women. Christina Ham’s play focuses on Simone. “The “four women” framework helped to reflect the multiple vocalities as seen through these four women who also represent bits of Ms. Simone’s life as well.” (People’s Light)
• What Happened, Miss Simone?. The documentary about Simone was made with her estate and daughter. “I had made this film about Bobby Fisher who was extremely reclusive but I was much more optimistic in this case because Nina was so vulnerable and raw that when she liked someone, she really shared honestly.” (Cinephiled)
• Ledisi Sings Nina. Ledisi released an album explicitly described as a tribute to Simone. “Almost 20 years later, Ledisi Sings Nina — an independently produced tribute album featuring the Metropole Orkest and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra — has generated no small amount of buzz” (WBGO)
• Me and Nina. The article explicitly says Simone inspired Monica Hand’s poetry book. “The musician Nina Simone’s echoing impact and the poet’s own life as an artist and Black woman operate as these countermelodies, playing across many emotional registers.” (Ploughshares)
• Lauryn Hill (1975). Hill describes Simone's music and example as sustaining her own voice. (also via The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill) “Hill said of her connection to Simone: "Because I fed on this music ... I believed I always had a right to have a voice. Her example is clearly a form of sustenance to a generation needing to find theirs. What a gift."” (Wikipedia)
• Bessie Smith. Rees places Simone in a musical lineage that passes through Smith and Holiday. “From Ma comes Bessie, from Bessie comes Billie, from Billie comes Nina Simone.” (HBO Watch)
• Bill T. Jones (1952). Jones cites Nina Simone as a cultural force that awakened white awareness. “It took I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, James Baldwin, or it took Nina Simone, and people are now saying, “I had no idea,”” (Moyers On Democracy Podcast (public broadcasting))
• Songs in A Minor by Alicia Keys (2001). Songs in A Minor (Alicia Keys) — legacy for Nina Simone “Keys has cited influences including Whitney Houston, John Lennon, Sade, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Carole King, Prince, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Quincy Jones, Donny Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield, Barbra Streisand, Radiohead, and Stevie Wo…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sinnerman tribute. A figure-skating tribute to Ailey used Nina Simone's recording of Sinnerman. (via Sinnerman) “Figure-skating choreographer Rohene Ward and Olympic medallist Jason Brown co-choreographed a tribute to Ailey set to Nina Simone 's version of " Sinnerman "” (Wikipedia)
• Get By. Talib Kweli’s “Get By” is identified as sampling Simone’s recording of “Sinnerman”. (via Sinnerman) “and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, " Get By "), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, " Until the Quiet Comes ").” (Wikipedia)
• Oh Timbaland. “Oh Timbaland” is identified as sampling Simone’s “Sinnerman”. (via Sinnerman) “and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, " Get By "), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, " Until the Quiet Comes ").” (Wikipedia)
• Until the Quiet Comes. The article identifies Flying Lotus’s work as sampling Simone’s “Sinnerman”. (via Sinnerman) “and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, " Get By "), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, " Until the Quiet Comes ").” (Wikipedia)
• Misunderstood. Devo Springsteen sampled Simone’s recording for “Misunderstood”. (via Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood) “The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever ,” (Wikipedia)
• Don't Get It. The producers sampled Simone’s recording for Lil Wayne’s “Don’t Get It”. (via Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood) “and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne 's 2008 album Tha Carter III .” (Wikipedia)
• Bad News. Kanye West sampled Simone’s “See-Line Woman” for “Bad News”. (via See-Line Woman) “" See-Line Woman " was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak .” (Wikipedia)
• Blood on the Leaves. Kanye West sampled Simone’s rendition of “Strange Fruit”. (via Strange Fruit) “The 1965 rendition of " Strange Fruit ", originally recorded by Billie Holiday , was sampled by Kanye West for " Blood on the Leaves " on his album Yeezus .” (Wikipedia)
• The Story of O.J. by Jay-Z. Jay-Z’s song contains a sample of Simone’s “Four Women”. (via Four Women) “she received a nomination for Best Rap Song as a songwriter for Jay-Z 's "The Story of O.J." from his 4:44 album, which contained a sample of " Four Women " by Simone.” (Wikipedia)
• The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill (1998). The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Lauryn Hill) — legacy for Nina Simone “Hill stated: "It is very important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans." Hill contributed her voice to the soundtrack for What Happened, Miss Simone…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Pour une âme souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone by Meshell Ndegeocello (2012). Pour une âme souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone (Meshell Ndegeocello) — legacy for Nina Simone