Nani Vazana sings Nina Simone!

Nani Vazana sings Nina Simone! Known as the High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone longed to be a classical pianist, and her music reveals a deep love for J.S. Bach. In her autobiography, Simone recalls shaping Love Me or Leave Me as a Bach-inspired fugue, and many of her songs carry direct echoes of Baroque forms. In this tribute, Nani Vazana expands on Simone’s Bach quotations with her own classically infused interpretations. She seamlessly fuses Bach’s inventions and preludes into Simone’s iconic works: the 1st Invention in C into My Baby Just Cares for Me, the Arioso in G into I Loves You Porgy, and the Prelude in C into He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. The result is a vibrant celebration of Nina Simone and J.S. Bach as you’ve never heard them before. Vazana, winner of the 2024 Eurovision for Minority Languages with her song Una Segunda Piel, has been documented by the Library of Congress (2023), ranked #11 in the World Music Charts, and performed worldwide from the Kennedy Center to the London Jazz Festival. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hails her as an artist who captures Simone’s emotional intensity with stylistic mastery and instinctive power.

Band Personnel

Nani Vazana - Vocals, Trombone Bennet Cohen - Piano, Bass Jaik Hakkarinen - Drums

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