In a revealing interview with The New York Times, Ledisi spoke of how the music of Dr Nina Simone saved her from the brink of suicide. The Grammy-winning contemporary soul artist has since paid homage to Simone in various guises – her Nina and Me show at New York’s Apollo Theatre, her touring one-woman show The Legend of Little Girl Blue, and her trip to London’s Royal Albert Hall for Mississippi Goddamn: A Portrait of Nina Simone at the BBC Proms. For the latter, she was backed by conductor Jules Buckley and the Netherlands-based Metropole Orkest, both of whom feature on her latest project Ledisi Sings Nina.
Ledisi Sings Nina, the second release from her own label Listen Back, sees Ledisi honour her idol with an economical covers album of only seven, carefully-selected songs. Compared to Nina Revisited (2015) – another tribute album featuring somewhat experimental interpretations by the likes of Lauryn Hill, Mary J Blige, and Usher – Ledisi Sings Nina is more faithful in tone, temperament, and texture to Simone’s recordings. There are, of course, alterations and liberties in arrangement, such as the teasing, slow opening on ‘Work Song’ and the Spanish guitar-flecked rendition of ‘Wild is the Wind’. However, the key differentiator is Ledisi’s vocal performance and the range, power, and dexterity she exhibits. (Gregory Porter, in his interview with The House That Soul Built, likened Ledisi’s voice to a thousand-horsepower engine.) She channels the weight of the orchestra and soars, scats, and glides magnificently. The album’s opening track ‘Feeling Good’ immediately foregrounds her vocal gifts.
Ledisi’s rendition of ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ – the song which rejuvenated Simone’s popularity across Europe after her version was used in a Chanel No.5 advertisement – smacks of character. In a charming subversion of the lyric, she retires Liz Taylor, Lana Turner and Liberace for Beyoncé, Halle Berry, Ru Paul, and Michelle Obama. She also merges the French and English language versions of ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me’) and lifts this dirge into a histrionic ballad. ‘I’m Going Back Home’, where she is accompanied by the energetic Adonis Rose and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, closes the album on a joyous high.
However, the album’s standout rendition is the penultimate track ‘Four Women’, written by Simone as a lamentation of the plight of the African-American woman. Many fans were first exposed to Ledisi after her appearance on BET where she performed this very song alongside Kelly Price, Marsha Ambrosius, and Jill Scott. Assuming the character of Peaches, she delivered the song’s climax with searing passion and rage. Here, she is joined by Lizz Wright, Alice Smith, and Lisa Fischer (who she performed with at the BBC Proms) who take on the roles of the dark-skinned, resilient Aunt Sarah, the bi-racial Saffronia, and the prostitute Sweet Thing, respectively. The orchestra simmers moodily before Ledisi steps up to the mic, reprising her role as Peaches. ‘My skin is brown,’ she growls, the orchestra rising in volume to match. ‘I’m awfully bitter these days / ‘Cause my parents were slaves,’ she spits. Stretching to the top of her range, she almost screams the final line – ‘My name is Peaches!‘ -, catapulting the album to its most visceral moment.
