Nina Simone was an American song writer, pianist, arranger, and Civil Rights activist. She was classically trained at Julliard School of Music and was an accomplished  in classical , jazz, blues, folk, R&B and pop.

Nina lived from 1933 -2003 and recorded 40 albums in her long career. She loved to  fuse gospel and pop  with classical music and in particular with  the master Johann Sebastian Bach.

She was born and raised in North Carolina with her disapproving pastor father.  He  considered  the music she preformed on the stage and in clubs to be “The Devil’s Music.”  Nina Simone, though,  pressed on following her musical dreams.