Nina Simone - Baltimore (1978) (eac-log-cover)

Nina Simone - Baltimore (1978)

jazz, vocal | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 230MB

Sony

AMG:
After an uncharacteristic (for her) four-year hiatus from recording, Nina Simone returned to the fringes of the pop world with Baltimore, the only album she recorded for the CTI label. While it bears some of the musical stylings of the period -- light reggae inflections that hint of Steely Dan's "Haitian Divorce" -- the vocals are unmistakably Simone's. Like many of her albums, the content is wildly uneven; Simone simply covers too much ground and there's too little attention paid to how songs flow together. As a result, a robust torch piano ballad like "Music for Lovers" is followed immediately by one of Simone's more awkward moments, an attempt to keep up with a jaunty rhythm track on a cover of Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl." Still, one must give her credit for always being provocative in her cover song choices, as she clearly scores on the Randy Newman-penned title track and a dramatic reading of Judy Collins' "My Father." Her voice throughout is in fine form, even when she phones it in on the album-closing traditional gospel tunes, but arranger David Matthews is a mismatch for her: He blows the arrangements with excessive string overlays and needlessly blaring background vocals. Simone herself all but disavowed the album shortly after its release, testament to her eternally contrarian, iconic nature. Despite her misgivings, though, Baltimore is an occasionally spellbinding if erratic album, a challenging and worthwhile listen for people ready to dip into the lesser-known entries in Nina Simone's vast catalog.

Tracks:
-01. "Baltimore" (Randy Newman) - 4:39
-02. "Everything Must Change" (Benard Ighner) - 3:58
-03. "The Family" (John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins) - 4:58
-04. "My Father" (Judy Collins) - 4:54
-05. "Music For Lovers" (Bart Howard) - 3:41
-06. "Rich Girl" (Daryl Hall) -
-07. "That's All I Want From You" (Fritz Rotter) - 2:52
-08. "Forget" (Rocky "Cole" Coluccio, David Matthews) - 2:54
-09. "Balm In Gilead" (Traditional) - 2:24
-10. "If You Pray Right" (Traditional) - 3:18

Personnel:
Jonathan Abramowitz: cello; Lamar Alsop: viola; Joshie Armstead: vocals; John Beal: bass; Alfred Brown: viola; Max Ellen: violin; Barry Finclair: violin; Babi Floyd: vocals; Frank Floyd: vocals; Jerry Friedman: guitar; Harry Glickman: violin; Milt Grayson: vocals; Chuck Israels: bass; Gary King: bass; Will Lee: bass; Charles Libove: violin; Harry Lookofsky: violin; James Madison: drums; Nicky Marrero: percussion; David Matthews: piano; Charles McCracken: cello; Deborah McDuffie: vocals; Homer Mensch: bass; Marvin Morgenstern: violin; David Nadien: violin; Andy Newmark: drums; Albertine Robinson: vocals; Al Schackman: piano, tambourine; Alan Shulman: cello; Nina Simone: keyboards, vocals; Ray Simpson: vocals; Herbert Sorkin: violin; Richard Sortomme: violin; Maretha Stewart: vocals; Emanuel Vardi: viola.

sample & buy: Baltimore

rc