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 Nani 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.

Nani’s music was documented for the Library of Congress USA in 2023, in an honour reserved to few artists. She ranked #11 World Music Charts and #13 Music Charts Europe, represented the Netherlands at the EU Music Festival in Vietnam and performed at the Kennedy Center USA, BBC Radio 3, the London Jazz Festival UK, Jazz in the Park fest Romania and the Jodhpur RIFF festival India, TEDx Amsterdam and more. 

Nani showcased at:
Folk alliance, USA 2024 & 2023
Your Roots Are Showing, IE, 2024
World Music Festival, Taiwan, 2023
Fira B!, ES 2023 NAMM, USA 2022
APAP, USA 2021
InJazz, NL 2018
Jazzahead Clubnight, DE 2017

Awards:
Winner – Eurovision for Minority Languages 2024
Library of Congress ‘Living Relic’ Honours 2023
PAIS Album Award, IL 2021
SENA Music Production Award, NL 2020
Arts Council England Premiere Award, UK 2019
Sephardic Music Award, ES 2017