Monday, July 20, 2020

How does she do that? Nina Simone playing Bach Blues and the United Snakes of America

What Happened Miss Simone? doc on Netflix - youtube trailer

So the end of this doc gives a story about Miles Davis hearing Nina Simone, playing while "off her medication" (near the end of her life) and playing one song - in her infamous Bach counterpoint style, while she sang a different song on top of it - melding the two songs together. Miles could not believe what he heard, asked for it to be played again and then said,

How does she do that?

Nina Simone plays a stunning Bach-style fugue in the middle of one of her classic songs This is her early in her career - also playing Bach - her favorite Western composer


At another point in the film - Nina is on stage and begins singing - and she then tells someone to sit down - and she says it repeatedly with so much anger that you can feel the fear in the audience. This was the period in her life that her daughter described as Nina being a monster - physically abusive.

So Nina also said at that time that she HATED the PIANO.

 So she was living in Africa at that time - having escaped a nightmare that she called the United Snakes of America....

I didn't know that Nina Simone was part of an extended family with the wife of Malcolm X and their children were close friends. I had no idea that Nina Simone declared that she "never was nonviolent" and she wished revenge with violence against the U.S.

Nina though also married a man who physically abused her and she was scared - and he worked her so hard - and so she tried to lash out against her imprisonment. That is what drove her to Africa....

So she started out with her mom as the church preacher and she played church piano and she said,
the music was so intense that you left your body.
And later she said she wanted to drive people crazy with her music - this was after she was trained intensely in classical music - even going to Julliard. She then realized she had been rejected from the top Curtis school of Music - because she was black.

So she had to support her family - and she began singing night club music - and that's why she changed her name to Nina Simone.

So she became a leader in the civil rights - through her music - and then her music was boycotted because of her saying "God Damn" after the terrorist church killing of black girls in Mississippi.

So her music became totally revolutionary in the lyrics and she lost her business career.

Also her daughter said that after Nina sang her protest song, "God Damn Mississippi" - she also lost an octave range in her voice....

So then after leaving her husband to go to Africa - Nina had so much anger that she was now abusive and explosive and she then went to Europe to make any money in desperation. When she was "discovered" by her old music friends - they got her put on psychotropic meds that caused her speech to slur and her face to have a tic - and her walking to shuffle...

So she began playing music again but it was only when she was OFF the drugs that she went back into her extreme experimental genius music style of improvising in Bach while singing Blues on top of it.   youtube link

devidia
This fragment was shown on a tv show where it was explained that it was beautiful how she was struggling with the song but came through it at the end for a marvelous finish. I can hear that some parts don't sound as great as other parts, but i am however not familiar enough with her work nor am i a musician so it is hard for me to hear and see what parts are actually meant to sound like that and what parts are actually a little off. Is there someone who knows more of the material that could tell me how you can distinguish those two things? And what made it come together at the end? I think it sounds great with and without the struggling parts
She is completely making it up in real time - so the "struggling parts" are essential to what makes it sound good. It's not "canned" but rather adds to the emotional intensity of the sound.
what tv show did you see that said she was struggling with the song?


@Voidisyinyang Voidisyinyang The tv-show is called 'Alleen Elvis Blijft Bestaan' and the guest (who gets to pick the fragments) was Michael Van Peel. It's a Belgian tv-show. Thanx for the explenation by the way. So mainly the struggle was in real time trying to figure out how to make the song work?
@devidia It might be you don't understand blues music. Improv is not based on work rather it's based on play. So there is no wrong notes. You just gotta let go and let the music lead.


@Voidisyinyang Voidisyinyang Not sure where you get the idea that i think there are 'wrong' notes, but okay...
@devidia Let's put it this way - 500 years of slavery has been a struggle and that is perfectly expressed through the music. Kind of like the Belgian Congo white dudes cutting off hands of slaves, etc.

 
devidia
Voidisyinyang Voidisyinyang I don't think you really understand what my original question was and you're giving it a twist now that is completely irrelevant to what i needed to know. Thank you (i guess) for the attempt but i'm leaving you to be now, c ya

Ain't Got No... Nina Simone

 devidia
@Voidisyinyang Voidisyinyang you're making this about culture (and race, according to your weird uploads...) While all i asked was for a MUSICAL explanation. And now you showed your true color by making me seem uncultural because of my electronical music uploads from thousand years ago (which i'm still proud of, despite the low quality). This not only makes you narrow minded but also completely irrelevant to further discussing this matter. Not a friendly goodbye this time
@devidia I had no idea you did "electronic music" uploads - but good luck with that. I studied music at Hampshire College were Moog worked. Have you read "Noise: The Political Economy of Music" by Jacques Attali? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9l-WYU4Y5I
 
 

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