Nina Simone went from obscurity to fame almost overnight, in 1958, when Bethlehem Records released her cover of George Gershwin’s “I Loves You, Porgy,” and it became a hit single. The album featuring that single, Little Girl Blue, also featured the Rodgers and Hart standard of the same name, “My Baby Just Cares for Me” (a hit single when re-released in 1987), and a version of “Love Me or Leave Me” with an extended keyboard solo in the manner of a Bach invention, a nod to Simone’s classical training.
Selections from that historic album, and other songs recorded or written by Nina Simone, will be presented in a concert entitled Lady Zen Sings Nina Simone, in the second floor Miguel Malo auditorium of the Bellas Artes, for two performances only, on Wednesday, April 3, and Thursday, April 4, at 7pm. Lady Zen, a/k/a Alzenira Quezada, is San Miguel’s top-ranked vocalist, an opera-trained mezzo soprano who early on turned her talents to jazz and blues, and who combines soulful singing with raw power and an irresistible stage presence. Her recent tribute concerts devoted to the songs of Bessie Smith, K.D. Lang, and Sade, all sold out rapidly.
Lady Zen will be accompanied on the theater’s nine-foot Steinway concert grand piano by Mark Hartman, a star in his own right. Hartman is a New York-based pianist, conductor, arranger and composer, with numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway credits and awards.
The concert is the latest installment of the acclaimed Steinway Series, a quasi-monthly piano-based concert series at the Bellas Artes to benefit Libros para Todos, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring children in Mexico to read more, particularly those children and young adults residing in rural communities where access to books is limited.
For those not wishing to buy online, reserved-seat tickets are on sale at Boleto City, Mercado Sano, 2nd floor, Ancha de San Antonio 123, Monday through Saturday, 11am to 5pm. Phone: 415 152 6432.