Nina Simone

Remixed & Reimagined (RCA/Legacy)

Nina Simone’s timelessness means that even dance-floor DJs have adopted her as their own. Remixed & Reimagined plops the roaring folk/soul/jazz diva smack-dab in the middle of a Saturday-night boogie – hot, moody, and full of hi-hat. Daniel Y.’s sexy smooth opener “I Can’t See Nobody” is just warm up. Jazzeem’s sporadic rendition of “Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter” follows, adding even more to Simone’s sass, but its schizophrenia is dazzling. One track exceeding Simone’s original is Groovefinder’s “Ain’t Got No – I Got Life,” which puts the Broadway back into the mix by way of an explosive horn section. From then on, with the exception of Coldcut’s “Save Me” and Chris Coco’s disco “To Love Somebody,” Simone is the filling between layers of techno wizardry. If the point of a remix album is to send newbies back to the beginning – or jazzers back to the stacks – Remixed & Reimagined is suitable reinvention.

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This article appears in December 15 • 2006.

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