Baltimore- Nina Simone

"Baltimore through my lens around 1969. The photos of the police on E. Chase Street were taken the day after MLK's assassination. They were sent to protect us from us. Of course this was long before the riverfront revitilization. That is why you see a few pictures of drunks and beggars. don't think that exists downtown anymore." -Ty Waller

Nina Simone- Live At Ronnie Scott's (1984)

Folks, I worship at the church of Nina Simone. Live At Ronnie Scott's is a solid late-period duo performance with some amazing moments. Its available on DVD, but the CD is hard to come by. I managed to track down an unedited flac of the show right here. The cd booklet indicates the concert is from November 17th, 1984. Amazon says its from 1985. I'm wonder if that's the original premiere date of the footage & will look into it further. Also, the cd booklet shows Mississippi Goddamn & Moon Over Alabama as distinct tracks that don't reflect the recording I heard while chopping and tagging the tracks. Regardless of my measley nerd-problems, I sure hope you enjoy it!

Nina Simone- Piano & Vocals
Paul Robinson- Drums

"If You Knew" is the song that turned me on to this performance. I love it.


Oh,and... here's a full-length stream of the entire performance:


Mediafire Download Link: Nina Simone- Live At Ronnie Scott's (320)

1. God, God, God
2. If You Knew
3. Mr. Smith
4. Fodder In Her Wings
5. Be My Husband
6. I Loves You, Porgy
7. The Other Woman
8. Mississippi Goddam/ Moon Over Alabama
9. For A While
10. See Line Woman
11. I Sing Just To Know I'm Alive
12. My Baby Just Cares For Me

Ghostcapital Mix: 22nd Century

This is an older mix, but a good one- heavy on the soul & psych, with lots of good breaks. I made it a couple of years ago for my friend Torrance. Its named after the lead track, 22nd Century by Nina Simone. I later found out that this amazing song was originally written by Bahamian songwriter, Exuma. "The 22nd Century is the century of the Christian Era or Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar." (Wikipedia) It also happens to be the subject of zillions of speculative sci-fi novels, including Noon: 22nd Century by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (Russian version pictured above). The song, as a 9 minute "epic mystical speculative protest ballad" (my words), is also a fairly unorthodox way to start a mix. I reckon it won't be for everyone, but I just love it and besides it gets things going with a bang. The rest of the disc isn't bad either.

Mediafire Download Link: Ghostcapital Mix- 22nd Century

1. 22nd Century / Nina Simone 8:44
2. Soul Strokes / Sidney Pinchback & The Schiller St. Gang 2:41
3. Jamaica Bolero / Tommy McCook 3:20
4. Cosmic Sea-(w Mystic Moods) / The Mystic Moods 2:38
5. 65 Bars and a Taste of Soul / Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band 2:46
6. Mercy Mercy Mercy / Cannonball Adderley 5:09
7. Suzanne / Nina Simone 5:15
8. Compared To What / Roberta Flack 5:16
9. I'll Bet You / Funkadelic 6:14
10. Love, Love, Love / Pugh 3:20
11. Dizzy Dizzy / CAN 5:41
12. Space / Galt MacDermot 1:55
13. Je M'Appelle Geraldine (Mid-Tempo) / Jean-Claude Vannier 1:31
14. Theme from the Godfather / The Professionals 4:13
15. Yagmur / Erkin Koray/Same 3:34
16. Just as Long / Fikret Kizilok 3:29
17. House Of Mirrors / David McCallum 2:22
18. I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down / Ann Peebles 2:51
19. Divine Daze Of A Deathless Delight / Donovan 3:09
20. Tao Longe De Mim / Os Brazões 2:10
21. Count Your Blessings / Ken Parker 3:18

Exuma- I, II & Do Wah Nanny (1970-71)

Let me just say- I'm completely in love with Nina Simone. A couple of years ago, my friend Scott gave me an amazing lesser known track by her, called "22nd Century". To say its an epic mystical speculative protest ballad is the best way that I can see fit to describe the thing. I became obsessed. So, after years of wondering about the song, I discovered that it was first written and performed by an anachronistic Bahamian Afro-folk artist named Exuma.
Turns out, Nina recorded excellent renditions of no less than three of this guy's songs- Dambala, Obeah Woman and 22nd Century. That was all the endorsement I needed, so I went and found his first three albums. They rule.

"Dambala"


"Fire In The Hole" (anyone else recognize the Ariel Pink sample at the beginning?)


"You Don't Know What's Going On"


Media Fire Download Link: Exuma I, Exuma II & Do Wah Nanny (folder)

Exuma I (1970)

Exuma, The Obeah Man 6:16
Dambala 5:34
Mama Loi, Papa Loi 4:32
Junkanoo 3:24
Seance In The Sixth Fret 7:14
You Don't Know What's Going On 3:27

Exuma II (1970)

Damn Fool 4:20
Baäl 6:26
Paul Simon Nontooth 5:14
Fire In The Hole 6:47
A Place Called Earth 6:22
We Got To Go 2:48
African Rythm 4:53
Zandoo 4:47

Do Wah Nanny (1971)

Do Wah Nanny 4:20
Silver City 6:30
Eyebrows And Beard 2:55
She Looks So Fine 4:10
Roweena 4:54
The Bowery 3:24
22nd Century 9:00
Do Wah Nanny (Part 2) 3:00
The Vision 8:14