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To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music.
Nina Simone
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Nina Simone
Age: 75 †
Born: 1933
Born: February 21
Died: 2008
Died: April 21
Composer
Jazz Pianist
Recording Artist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Tryon
North Carolina
Eunice Kathleen Waymon
High Priestess of Soul
Music
Play
Mean
Classical
People
Dirt
Jazz
White
Means
Black
More quotes by Nina Simone
You can't be different if you look at it. Being gifted is different. I had that in my piano playing. I'm very thankful for that. I'm very aware of that. The style and what I fed is just me. I never worked at it. It just happened.
Nina Simone
Desegregation is a joke.
Nina Simone
It is difficult to retain your standards with the pressure of trying to make money, which always has its rules...It's hard to walk the tightrope of doing what you think is your best and making money at it.
Nina Simone
Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking.
Nina Simone
I don't like to go to strange places.
Nina Simone
My job is not done. I address my songs now to the third world. I am popular all over Asia and Africa and the Middle East, not to speak of South Africa, where I'm trying to go to see Nelson Mandela.
Nina Simone
I look forward to doing my own show, not someone else's. That's always been my dream.
Nina Simone
I know I'm different, but I don't think about it.
Nina Simone
Birds flying high you know how I feel Sun in the sky you know how I feel Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel And this old world is a new world And a bold world For me And I'm feeling good I'm feeling good
Nina Simone
There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.
Nina Simone
I believe the time will come when the whole definition of pop music will change. It will get to the point where a song will not be a good song until it has a high level of creativity in writing and performance. In other words, in order to be popular, songs will have to meet these high standards.
Nina Simone
You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.
Nina Simone
I would like a man now who is rich, and who can give me a boat - a sailboat. I want to own it and let him pay for it. My first love is the sea and water, not music. Music is second.
Nina Simone
When I choose material for an album all these songs I grew up with pour into my head.
Nina Simone
I love to travel to hear different kinds of music.
Nina Simone
It's logical that people from bad times will reflect their feelings in their communication. Music is part of the communication. If you lived it, you can do it.
Nina Simone
I'm a nut for Bach as a composer.
Nina Simone
Theory and harmony broadened my mind in music. I know what music is made of.
Nina Simone
I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.
Nina Simone
I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.
Nina Simone
