Nina Simone - Nina Simone And Her Friends (2021 - Stereo Remaster) (2021) [Hi-Res]

Originally released by Bethlehem Records in 1959, NINA SIMONE AND HER FRIENDS was a compilation album comprised of the few remaining, unreleased tracks from the Little Girl Blue recording session plus songs recorded by two other former Bethlehem artists, thepowerhouse jazz vocalist Carmen McRae and the elegant song stylist Chris Connor.

As Daphne Brooks explains in the release’s brand new essay, “Bethlehem clustered their work—tracks that had previously appeared on the label’s Girlfriends compilation—together with the younger, upstart Simone’s and essentially offered up a collection of songsthat span a range of genres—folk, jazz, pop song staples, and torch song laments, plus a couple of provocative original compositions by McRae and Simone.