VA - Round Nina (A Tribute To Nina Simone) (2014) Hi-Res

Nina Simone was such a great, distinctive artist that I've previously slammed other tributes to her because they just seemed bland and inconsequential compared to Nina's own versions of the songs. This new tribute CD on the Verve label presents a number of modern artists - such as Lianne La Havas, Melody Gardot and Gregory Porter - who have approached Nina's legacy in a fresh way putting their own spin on songs associated with her and producing an interesting collection that on the whole works very well. We open with Randy Newman's "Baltimore" by Lianne La Havas (reminding us that Nina was a great interpreter and champion of other peoples songs) which is completely reimagined and delivered in a modern layered production which I thought worked very well. Keziah Jones takes "Sinnerman" back to Africa and Hindi Zahra's voice is probably most like Nina's own on a her version of "Just say I love him", while Gregory Porter delivers a stunning take on the beautiful "Black is the colour" - what a fabulous voice. Ben l’oncle Soul, Melody Gardot, Youn Sun Nah and Sophie Hunger all turn in really good performances that respect the originals but also put their own take on these well-known Nina staples. I also thought that the production and backing was very good giving a record that has plenty of variety but doesn't stray too far from the sound that Nina evolved over the years.