Nina Simone, Montreux Jazz 1976: a difficult, unsteady return to the limelight

By Vanessa Okoth-Obbo

 

Unforgettable...Nina Simone performing in the 1970s. Photograph: David Redfern/Redferns

 

The enduring image of Nina Simone is one of a sharp, radical, no-nonsense artist.

 

But on stage at the Montreux Jazz festival in 1976, dressed in a form-fitting black dress with her hair cropped short, Simone cut a different figure from the one for which she is remembered.

 

The piano virtuoso, who usually kept audiences eating out of the palm of her hand, seemed skittish and disoriented.

 

Set along the shores of picturesque Lac Léman, Montreux Jazz is a glitzy affair in one of the world’s most expensive countries. Simone performed at the festival several times between 1968 and 1990, but by the time she got to Switzerland in 1976, she was broke. 

 

Full Story: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/29/iconic-festival-sets-nina-simone-montreux-jazz-1976

Great the voice of this woman with a sad life, really impressed with the video.

there is nice documentary on Netflix about her, worth seeing...