It was at a concert at London’s Drury Lane Theatre in December 1977 that Creed Taylor approached the unpredictable performer about recording for CTI, a label that already boasted a strong roster that included the likes of Grover Washington Jr., Esther Phillips, Bob James, Patti Austin, and Hubert Laws. In contrast, she appeared with a radiant smile on the front of Baltimore and for good reason: the album she had just recorded for CTI founder and producer Creed Taylor had captured Simone in good spirits, performing a selection of material carefully picked to express her musical authenticity. Her last recording for that label (It Is Finished, a fitting title for her swansong set for the company) had been somewhat uneven, containing a version of Ike & Tina Turner’s “Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter” alongside an old spiritual “Come By Here.” The brilliant but often misunderstood performer who had earned herself the tag ‘The High Priestess of Soul’ had completed a prolific and productive seven-year association with RCA records in 1974. When Nina stepped into Studio Katy in Brussels, Belgium (one of her many ‘adopted’ homes) in January 1978, it was her first such excursion to make a full-out album in almost four years.
#BEST NINA SIMONE SONGS LYRICS FULL#
She has invested herself deeply and emotionally into practically every one of the over fifty albums she’s made and Baltimore, her now-classic 1978 one-off recording for CTI Records is a full and rich testimony to her distinctive artistry. She is rightfully considered one of music’s most original and compelling artistes, a past master at lyrical interpretation, a consummate, if oft-times eccentric performer who mesmerizes audiences with her hypnotic, spellbinding and clearly unique musical style.