Kim Nalley amd CE Jazz & Blues are thrilled to announce that their 2006 CD, She Put A Spell On Me: Kim Nalley Sings Nina Simone, has been shortlisted for Grammy Award consideration in the Best Jazz Vocal category. Active members of the Recording Academy vote from among the CDs on this list to select the five nominees in each category that will go on to compete for the Grammy. While the competition in the Jazz Vocals category is formidable, including releases by Diana Krall, Nancy Wilson, Madeleine Peyroux, Freddy Cole and Patricia Barber, the selection of She Put a Spell on Me represents an exciting acknowledgement, on an important industry forum, of the excellence of the CD and of Nalley's world-class musical talent.
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences voters will find She Put A Spell On Me: Kim Nalley Sings Nina Simone at Field 10 (Jazz), Category 46 (Best Vocal Jazz Album), Album 049.
“I've always been influenced by Nina Simone," Nalley says, “by her singing and her absolutely amazing piano playing. And I've always been moved by her music and by her insistence on speaking out about civil rights and women's rights."
She Put A Spell On Me was recorded live in 2005 during a five-night run at Jazz at Pearl's, the classy San Francisco nightclub that Nalley co-owns with her husband, Steve Sheraton. Appearing on the CD with Nalley are pianist Tammy Hall, trumpeter Allan Smith, guitarist Greg Skaff, drummer Kent Bryson and bassist Mike Zisman. The CD immediately attracted glowing reviews, not least for its impressive range of material. Nalley takes on difficult and controversial material such as “Mississippi Goddamn," Simone's protest of anti-civil rights terrorism, moving jazz ballads like Irving Berlin's “You Can Have Him," African chant in “See-Line Woman" and well-known folk tunes such as “House for the Rising Sun." The degree to which Nalley succeeded in capturing the essence of Nina Simone's spirit, while remaining true to her own musical heart and style, has now been made clear once again by this well-deserved recognition from the Grammy Awards nominators for She Put A Spell On Me: Kim Nalley Sings Nina Simone.
Pianist Tammy Hall, another musician heavily influenced heavily by Nina Simone, worked closely with Nalley to help develop the sound, spirit and repertoire for this glorious Simone tribute. Tammy Hall's recent CD, Blue Divine, is also short-listed in two categories, Best Jazz Instrumental CD and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for her playing on the song “Hymn for Lacy B."
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