CONCER T SERIES
THE NINA PROJECT
Eight years ago, at the request and with the encouragement of Sybil Walker, I performed a tribute to Nina Simone for one night at La Belle Epoque. Due to a short rehearsal period, I wasn’t able to prepare all of the songs that I wanted to sing, so I decided to use lyrics as movement between the musical numbers, this way I wouldn’t have to tell the audience how much I loved Nina, I could let her chosen words speak for me and through me. Thus, The Nina Project was born. My dream was to create a show that would feature two of my all-time favourite vocalists, Jackie Richardson and Kellylee Evans, onstage sharing their ‘NINA-ness’ with the audience. What a blessing that through BAND-TD Then and Now and Soulpepper, we now have a show that personifies every complex and beloved layer of Nina through not just two, but 10 talented artists’ vision, voices and instruments. Shakura S’Aida
PERFORMERS & PRODUCTION Kellylee Evans Vocals
Colleen Allen Musical Director & Saxophone
Michael Shand Piano
Jackie Richardson Vocals
Conrad Coates Director
Roger Williams Bass
Shakura S’Aida Vocals
Brooke Blackburn Guitar
Natalie Buckley Stage Coordinator
Coco ‘Cognac’ Brown Piano & Vocals
Mark McLean Drums
Ken Mackenzie Lighting & Video
Thank you to everyone who inspired and supported The Nina Project from inception to stage: Sybil Walker; Jackie Richardson; Kellylee Evans; Richard Flohil; BAND-TD Then and Now Black History Month Series; Karen Carter; Alan Convery; Dian Marie Bridge; Maxine Bailey; Francois Mano; Albert Schultz; Leslie Lester; Laura McLeod; Guillermo Verdecchia; Conrad Coates; Cindy Wilson; Colleen Allen; Janine Stoll; Karl & Gloria Schmed; Janina Barrett; Angie Cassiram; Noelle Najmaah; Zoë-Blue Coates; Natalie Buckley; Coco ‘Cognac’ Brown; Denise Hampden; Cathy Clyke; Evan Bonnah-Hawkes; CBC and Sonia Arab. 2015 lead sponsors
SONGS PERF ORMED
THE NINA PROJECT Mississippi Goddamn
GOSPEL MEDLEY
Take Me to the Water (African American Spiritual), He’s Got the Whole World (African American Spiritual), I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free (Billy Taylor & Dick Dallas)
(Nina Simone)
I SING JUST TO KNOW THAT I’M ALIVE
Nobody
(unknown)
(Rhonda J Fleming and Dennis Morgan)
LITTLE GIRL BLUE
Four Women
(Lorenz Hart)
(Nina Simone)
Young, Gifted and Black (Spoken)
Tell Me More, More and Then Some
(Weldon Irvine)
(Billie Holiday)
Brown Baby
Feeling Good
(Oscar Brown Jr.)
(Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse)
Ain’t Got No, I Got Life (spoken)
Just Like A Woman
( James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Galt MacDermot)
(William Hort Mann and Bob Dylan)
Love Me or Leave Me
Do I Move You
(Donaldson and Kahn)
(Nina Simone)
Why? (The King of Love is Dead) (Calvin E. (Gene) Taylor)
I Want A Little Sugar in My Bowl (spoken)
Ne Me Quitte Pas
(Nina Simone)
( Jacques Brel)
Be My Husband
See-Line Woman
(Nina Simone and Andy Stroud)
(George Bass, Nina Simone)
I Love You Porgy
I Sing Just To Know That I’m Alive- reprise
(George and Ira Gershwin)
Sinnerman
Black Is the Color
(Emile Latimer and John Jacob Niles)
Mood Indigo
(Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard and Irving Mills)
(The Seekers)
Revolution
(Weldon Irvine, Nina Simone)
Projections sourced from: Ron Kroons, David Redfern, Associated Press, ebony Magazine & Getty images
JOIN US F OR MORE CONCER T S! book your tickets now! visit soulpepper.ca for more details concert series sponsor
february 2015 peformance of the Nina project supported by
BAND – TD Presents Then and Now Black History Series