I've had two articles published recently. One is a text I've wanted to work up for some time, connecting Nina Simone to narratives of Afrofuturism. It's a topic I first considered over a decade ago when writing my book about Simone. The material didn't really fit the shape the book ended up taking (and would… Continue reading New publications on Nina Simone and clipping.
Tag: Nina Simone
Songs and Objects podcast
I am working on a podcast that explores the materiality of song. I’ve created it to accompany a research project I have been working on for some years now and which I hope to turn into a book in the future. The podcast is called Songs and Objects and the first five episodes are available… Continue reading Songs and Objects podcast
ppp: the personal, the political and the piano
The news that today is being celebrated as National Album Day has inspired me to post the following text on Nina Simone’s 1969 masterpiece Nina Simone and Piano! It’s a text that’s being lying dormant for a few years and now seems a good time to do something with it. The concept shouldn’t have been… Continue reading ppp: the personal, the political and the piano
Nina Simone’s tribute to Martin Luther King – fifty years ago today
Fifty years ago today, Nina Simone and her band performed at Westbury Music Fair in New York. Three days had passed since the murder of Martin Luther King and Simone used her concert to stage an act of collective mourning and outrage. Below is a re-post of a 2013 entry from my blog So Transported:… Continue reading Nina Simone’s tribute to Martin Luther King – fifty years ago today
Nina Simone’s ‘Ain’t Got No / I Got Life’
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a journalist who had seen that I'd written a book about Nina Simone and wanted to get some thoughts from me about Simone's October 1969 live recording of 'Ain't Got No / I Got Life', the one that ended up on the 1970 album Black Gold. I… Continue reading Nina Simone’s ‘Ain’t Got No / I Got Life’
Who Knows Where The Time Goes?
I have contributed to a programme on the song 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes', part of Radio 4's series Soul Music. The programme airs at 9:00am on Wednesday 14 June, then again at 9:30pm the same evening; it will also be available to download on the Radio 4 website. The song was written by… Continue reading Who Knows Where The Time Goes?
Upcoming presentation: ‘All You See Is Glory’: The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone
I will be presenting a paper at the IASPM Australia New Zealand Branch Conference at the Australian National University, Canberra, on 5 December. My paper is entitled '"All You See Is Glory": The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone' and the abstract is below. Although most often remembered as an icon of… Continue reading Upcoming presentation: ‘All You See Is Glory’: The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone
New publication: “Across the Evening Sky”: The Late Voices of Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Nina Simone
My essay 'Across the Evening Sky: The Late Voices of Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Nina Simone' has been published in the book Gender, Age and Musical Creativity, edited by Catherine Haworth and Lisa Colton (Ashgate, 2015). ABSTRACT: This chapter explores the work of three female musicians – Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Nina Simone… Continue reading New publication: “Across the Evening Sky”: The Late Voices of Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Nina Simone
New Yorker article on NIna Simone
It was nice to get a brief mention in this engaging feature on Nina Simone by Claudia Roth Pierpont in The New Yorker.
Upcoming talk: A Dream Deferred
'A Dream Deferred: Nina Simone and the Work of Mourning' Tuesday, 19 November 2013, 16:15, Arts A155, University of Sussex I'll be giving a talk hosted by the Centre for American Studies, University of Sussex. This talk presents work from my recent book about the late singer, songwriter, pianist and civil rights activist Nina Simone.… Continue reading Upcoming talk: A Dream Deferred
Late Voice 