High Priestess Of Soul

The title might have been a record-biz move to try to broaden her appeal to the R&B crossover market, but High Priestess of Soul ironically highlighted the fact that Nina Simone operated in a mode that could overpower any limitations or parameters anyone else wanted to place around her. The directness of her voice — pained but powerful, beautiful even as it detailed the effects of cruel, emotional ugliness — is unfadeable no matter how many strings she was drenched in, though Hal Mooney’s arrangements on the bluesy “I Hold No Grudge” (co-written by future David Lynch composer Angelo Badalamenti), the acid-spitting big-band kiss-off “I’m Gonna Leave You,” and the compassionate quietude of “Don’t You Pay Them No Mind” are good complements to her melodic power as a singer. But it’s not all heartache — give her a chance to cut loose on the piano with a Chuck Berry cover (“Brown Eyed Handsome Man”) and she’ll sound slyly joyful; bring her gospel side to the forefront (traditional on “Take Me to the Water”; percussively sinuous on “Come Ye”) and you’ll have revelations right alongside her.