What Happened, Miss Simone?

8/2/2026

I did not know that Nina Simone was a classically trained pianist, not that she was declined entry into a conservatory in New York - not because of her lack of skill but because of her skin pigmentation. I don't suppose that should have surprised me, but that New York in the 1950s was still that bigoted is pretty shameful. She didn't just take that slight lying down though, and was soon working nightly in a jazz club demonstrating that she was a woman of substance. Soon allied with the pitch perfect guitarist Al Schackman, she begins to drawn bigger crowds, to sing and to find herself a husband/manager in no-nonsense cop Andrew Stroud. Before long, she has a luxury home in Mount Vernon, a Mercedes in the drive and a promising career - but as that success grows, the wheels begin to come off