by Scott Yanow
Nina Simone has the rare ability of really being able to dig into material and bring out unexpected meaning in familiar lyrics. On &Just in Time& from this CD reissue, she gives one the impression that if she had not been found &Just in Time,& she would have committed suicide. During &He Was Too Good to Me,& Simone sounds absolutely stunned about the end of a love affair. &Brown Baby& is both hopeful and defiant in its call for freedom, while &Zungo& is an African work song. Also from her 1961 trio performance at the Village Gate, Simone performs the overly serious &If He Changed My Name,& the good-time gospel piece &Children Go Where I Send You,& a regretful rendition of &House of the Rising Sun,& and an unpredictable instrumental version of &Bye Bye Blackbird.& Nina Simone, who was always in a category by herself, is heard throughout in her early prime.