Julie Ethel Dash is an American filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author, and website producer. Dash received her MFA in 1985 at the UCLA Film School and is one of the graduates and filmmakers known as the L.A. Rebellion. The L.A. Rebellion refers to the first African and African-American students who studied film at UCLA. Through their collective efforts, they sought to put an end to the prejudices of Hollywood by creating experimental and unconventional films. The main goal of these films was to create original Black stories and bring them to the main screens. After Dash had written and directed several shorts, her 1991 feature Daughters of the Dust became the first full-length film directed by an African-American woman to obtain general theatrical release in the United States. In 2004, Daughters of the Dust was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its "cultural, historical and aesthetic significance". Stemming from the film's success, Dash also released novels of the same title in 1992 and 1999. The film was later a key inspiration for Beyoncé's 2016 album Lemonade.
Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. In 2023 Rolling Stone ranked Simone at No. 21 on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Xiu Xiu is an American experimental rock band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of multi-instrumentalists Stewart, Angela Seo, and percussionist David Kendrick. The band's name comes from the film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, which has influenced the sound of their music, according to Stewart.
"Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" is a song written by the English folk-rock singer and songwriter Sandy Denny.
Wild Is the Wind is the sixth studio album by American singer and pianist Nina Simone released by Philips Records in 1966. The album was compiled from several recordings that were left over from sessions for previous Philips albums.
Barbed Wire Sandwich is a heavy blues rock studio album by British band Black Cat Bones, released on 13 February 1970 by Decca on its Nova label. It is the only record by the band.
"Feeling Good" is a song written by English composers Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd. It was first performed on stage in 1964 by Cy Grant on the UK tour.
Live at Ronnie Scott's is an album by American singer-songwriter Nina Simone. It is a live recording of a concert she gave at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in 1984, a London venue where she performed a few times in her later life.
Here Comes the Sun is the thirteenth studio album by American singer Nina Simone, consisting of cover versions of songs by pop and rock musicians, released by RCA in April 1971.
"I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was performed in the opera's premiere in 1935 and on Broadway the same year by Anne Brown and Todd Duncan. They recorded the song on volume 2 of the album Selections from George Gershwin's Folk Opera Porgy and Bess in 1942. The duet occurs in act 2, scene 3, Catfish Row, where Porgy promises Bess that he will protect her. Bess has a lover, Crown, who is abusive and continually seduces her.
"Mississippi Goddam" is a song written and performed by American singer and pianist Nina Simone, who later announced the anthem to be her "first civil rights song". The song was released on her album Nina Simone in Concert in 1964, which was based on recordings of three concerts she gave at Carnegie Hall earlier that year. The album was her first release for the Dutch label Philips Records and is indicative of the more political turn her recorded music took during this period.
"There Is A Balm in Gilead" is a traditional African American spiritual. The date of composition is unclear, though the song dates at least to the 19th century. A version of the refrain can be found in Washington Glass's 1854 hymn "The Sinner's Cure". The Clark Sisters recorded a version of Balm In Gilead in 1986.
Ledisi Anibade Young, better known simply as Ledisi, is an American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter, music producer, author and actress. Her name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.
"Pirate Jenny" is a well-known song from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht. The English lyrics are by Marc Blitzstein. It is one of the best known songs in the opera, after "Mack the Knife".
"My Man's Gone Now" is an aria composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by DuBose Heyward, written for the opera Porgy and Bess (1935).
"Sea Lion Woman" is a traditional African American folk song originally used as a children's playground song.
"Go Limp" is the penultimate track on Nina Simone's 1964 album Nina Simone in Concert, and is an adaptation of a protest song originally written by Alex Comfort during his involvement with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Nina is a Nina Simone tribute album by Xiu Xiu. It was released on Graveface Records on December 3, 2013, to generally favorable reviews.
Four Women is a 1975 short experimental film produced and directed by Julie Dash featuring music by Nina Simone.
The Tale of Four, is a 2017 United States short film directed by Gabourey Sidibe as her directorial debut and co-produced by Kia Perry, Lisa Cortes and Shannon Gibson. The shot revolves among four different women with four different paths where ironically all their lives interconnected. It is based on the song "Four Women" sung by singer and political activist Nina Simone.
