New Event Added - Simone in the Oasis Room June 19 & 20

May 08, 2008 9:00 AM - Performing with a 7-piece band, Simone will present songs from her first full-length album – to be released on May 13 – titled Simone On Simone, which honors her mother’s musical contributions while beginning a new chapter in her own musical journey. With producer Bob Belden (whose credits include work with Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, Sting, and Chick Corea), Simone On Simone culls eleven songs from Nina Simone’s repertoire. “This is my tribute to my mother,” Simone says, “A chance for me to do the songs I love the most the way I hear them. It’s a glimpse of my life over four decades.”

“We are honored to present this amazing talent in an intimate and acoustically stunning setting, just weeks after the launch of her first solo album,” says Garde executive director Steve Sigel. J. Geils Band founder Jay Geils and his Kings of Strings opened the newly-outfitted Oasis Room as a performance venue with a standing-room-only show on April 25.

A highly-praised live performer whose impressive resume includes award-winning roles on Broadway in such acclaimed musicals as Rent and Aida, Simone has developed an exciting and diverse repertoire of pop, soul, jazz, rock and funk, expressed in shows she’s done throughout the U.S. and in the UK, Ireland, Holland, Finland, Spain and France.

Born Lisa Celeste Stroud in upstate New York, Simone's earliest exposure to music came through her mother's work as a globally-loved musician and freedom fighter. Simone spent most of her early childhood in New York City, and then in Nina's home state of North Carolina before accompanying her globe-trotting mother to Liberia, Barbados and Switzerland. She completed her education in the U.S. and joined the USAF in 1982. Studying civil engineering and rising to the rank of staff sergeant, Simone's first onstage appearances happened during her tenure in Germany. In spite of her parents' misgivings, Simone continued to follow her heart and traveled the world, doing background vocals for Latin superstar Raphael.

In 1996, Simone starred in the first national tour of Rent, earning nominations for both Helen Hayes and Jefferson Awards. In 1998, as lead singer for the acid jazz band Liquid Soul, Simone won a Grammy nomination for the album Here's the Deal.

In 1999, she appeared for the first time onstage with her mother at the Guinness Blues Festival in Dublin and opened for her at London's Royal Albert Hall.

In 2001, Simone took on the leading role of Aida in the Tim Rice-Elton John musical for the national touring company, earning a National Broadway Theater Award for “Best Actress in a Musical." She reprised the role on Broadway to critical acclaim in 2002.

On April 21, 2006, three years after her mother’s passing, Simone paid her tribute at Town Hall in New York City – the very venue where, forty-seven years earlier, a 26-year old Nina Simone enjoyed her first major show in the city. Simone’s spellbinding, soulful performance turned into the genesis for the recording of Simone On Simone. Since her mother's passing, she has been busy managing Nina Simone's extensive estate as well as co-founding in 2003, the Nina Simone Foundation, which raises money for the education of African-American children and children of African descent.

SIMONE at the Garde Oasis Room on June 19 & 20 is co-presented with Kitchings Productions. Tickets are $45 and are now on sale to the general public at the Garde Box Office at 860-444-7373 or online at www.gardearts.org . Seating is limited.

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