Nina Simone and Her Friends is an album that contains songs by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone

Nina Simone

Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...

 (1933-2003). The album was, however, released after Nina Simone left Bethlehem Records

Bethlehem Records

Bethlehem Records was a record label based in New York and Hollywood founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. It was bought by King Records in the early 1960s....

 and without her knowing. It contains songs that were left over after the recording sessions for her debut album Little Girl Blue

Little Girl Blue (Nina Simone album)

Little Girl Blue is the debut album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone for Bethlehem Records. It was also released as Jazz As Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club. Nina was in her mid-20s at the time of this album, and still aspiring to be a classical concert pianist...

 (1958), as well as songs by artists Chris Connor

Chris Connor

Chris Connor was an American jazz singer.-Biography:She was born as Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri to Clyde and Mabel Loutsenhizer. She studied and became proficient on the clarinet, having studied for 8 years throughout junior high and high school...

 and Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...

, four songs each.

Information about songs on this album

• "I Loves You Porgy
  I Loves You Porgy
  "I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was published in 1935....
  
  ", the version of this song on "Little Girl Blue" became a Billboard Chart top 20 hit in 1957.
• "African Mailman", an instrumental song.

Track listing

1. "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
   He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
   "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New, in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina...
   
   "
2. "I Loves You Porgy
   I Loves You Porgy
   "I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was published in 1935....
   
   "
3. "For All We Know
   For All We Know (1934 song)
   "For All We Know" is a popular song published in 1934. The music was written by J. Fred Coots and the lyrics by Sam M. Lewis.The first charting versions in 1934 were by Hal Kemp and Isham Jones . A version by Dinah Washington reached #88 on the chart in 1962...
   
   "
4. "African Mailman"

+ four tracks by Chris Connor

+ four tracks by Carmen McRae (including "Too Much In Love To Care")

Personnel

• Nina Simone - vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Jimmy Bond - bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Al "Tootie" Heath
  Tootie Heath
  Albert "Tootie" Heath is an American jazz hard bop drummer, the brother of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and double-bassist Percy Heath.He first recorded in 1957 with John Coltrane. From 1958 to 1974 he worked with, among others, J. J...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....