A Tribute Fit For A Queen: Nina Simone

Nina Simone

You can watch a video from the archives of The Montreux Jazz Festival here.

So far, this has been one fun summer and another wonderful birthday celebration with 7 more days left before my vacation ends and what is a woman to do when she's been going from point A to point B?

I've been to The Essence Music Festival during the week of July 3-5 and now we have the Montreux Jazz Festival which started on the same day as the EMF did and ends on the 18TH of this month. Whew! No, I did not fly to Montreux but I would have loved to have been there to see this.

Anyway, that's the wonderful thing about the Internet, you can go anywhere in the world at the touch of a key pad. I've been to my share of Jazz Festivals while living in Europe, but none of them can compare to this one. One time was all I needed to witness this. Who knows, next year will be another milestone for me and I need to cancel the trip to Vegas to celebrate my birthday and go there instead for a second time.

I've seen at least two artist who were at the EMF who jetted off to beautiful Switzerland for one of the premiere music destinations in the world. As I've said before, I'll say it again, Europeans appreciate our wonderful musical culture while many of us don't even attempt to embrace our vast musical culture. Everyone loves our culture but us, there may be a language barrier but music is universal.

Now, lets get back to the Montreux Jazz Fest, who gave a fitting tribute to the great Nina Simone. It was obvious to Claude Nobs, the creator and CEO of The Montreux Jazz Festival, that he should host a tribute to Nina Simone. Over her four concerts at the Festival (1968, 1976, 1987, 1990), the pianist impressed the public and forged a solid bond with the event's founder.

Sing the Truth is an occasion to celebrate an impressively profound repertoire with some top class voices, including that of Nina's daughter, Simone, Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright, Angélique Kidjo and Nina Simones band leader, Al Shackman.

If you are not a fan of the artist listed above, I've supplied you with a little information about them. Very few "youngins" appreciate real music these days because their ear ways have been saturated with artists who can't really sing, having them thinking that they are listening to real music. That is not real music that they're listening to, it's nothing but noise.

American jazz singer Dianne Reeves has been one of the world's top contemporary jazz singers ever since the late 80s. A four time Grammy winner and the voice of the jazz soundtrack for Oscar-nominated film Good Night, and Good Luck.

The soulful music of this Grammy-award winning Beninese singer-songwriter, Angelique Kidjo embraces everything from afro-funk, to salsa and jazz and back again. She makes a welcome return to Montreux after performing in last year's Quincy Jones birthday celebration.


Vocalist Lizz Wright infuses her music with elements of gospel, jazz, blues and r&b, culminating in a soulful mix that has won widespread critical acclaim also was featured in the tribute.

The daughter of legendary musical icon Nina Simone released her first solo album last year, a big band tribute to her mother entitled Simone on Simone. She is a multi-talented singer, songwriter and actress in her own right who easily defies genre boundaries. What better way for a daughter to pay homage to her mother.

If you are looking for that special trip of a lifetime then this is the one for you. If the economy has not affected your lifestyle then book a trip to next years Montreux Jazz Festival, I guarantee you that you will love every minute of it and your entire visit to Switzerland, also.Sphere: Related Content