Nina Simone is known as The High Priestess Of Soul, but when carefully listened to, you discover a Baroque enthusiast. Simone dreamt to become the first African-American concert pianist in the USA but financial problems and racism had her turn to bars and clubs to play jazz, where she was forced to sing. In Simone’s music & improvisations you can distinctly hear J.S. Bach‘s impressions and even direct quotes from his fugues and preludes. Simone admired Bach for his composition. In her autobiography she recalls how her rendition of Love Me Or Leave Me came out of an attempt to compose a Bach-like Fugue. 

In this tribute Noam Vazana expands on Simone’s Bach quotations with her own classically oriented take. Seamlessly fusing pieces & songs such as the 1st invention in C into My Baby Just Cares For Me, the Arioso in G into I Loves You Porgy & the famous 1st Prelude from the Well Tempered Clavier into He’s Got The Whole World In His Hand. Enjoy a celebration of Nina Simone & J.S. Bach, like you never heard them before.

For 2021-22 she is booked to play on 37 major international stages, including: The Richmond Folk Festival USA, Montana Folk Festival USA, London Jazz Festival UK &  more. Nani represented the NL at the EU Music Festival VN, performed at the Kennedy Center USA, Jodhpur RIFF festival IN,  Showcased at APAP USA as well as Jazzahead DE and hosted 3 WOMEX panels. The Dutch NPO network released a mini documentary about her musical work in 2018 and shw also composed music for BBC4 and NPO documentaries. Nani chairs of the Amsterdam Artist Collective and founded Why DIY Music.

Awards:
PAIS Album Award, IL 2020
SENA Album Award, NL 2019
Arts Council England Premiere Award, UK 2019
Sephardic Music Award, ES 2017
iTunes Top-20 bestseller, NL 2015
ACUM Album Award, IL 2014