Nina Simone stood frozen on the big screen, towering over the Royal Festival Hall. One hand rested on a grand piano; she was otherwise alone. An invisible audience cheered wildly. The applause died down, then cautiously resumed, and faltered again. Nina did not move. Nervous laughter filled the absence of anything else. At last she strode to the piano, sat down, and spoke about a music only she could hear.
When the opening cinematic concluded and the lights switched on to reveal the immensity of the Nu Civilisation Orchestra, it underscored the challenge faced by the evening’s performers: can five singers and a hall of instrumentalists recreate the singularly indomitable presence of the High Priestess of Soul?
Through a delicate balancing act, they proved up to the task. Each vocalist took on a different element of Simone’s persona: China Moses her force; Ni Maxine her billowing emotiveness; Tony Njoku her understated cool; and Corinne Bailey Rae her regality. Laura Mvula, with austere tone and tactful dynamic deployment, made a particularly lasting impression on the spaghetti western-tinged ‘Plain Gold Ring’ as well as her solo piano rendition of ‘Stars’. All navigated difficulties — such as the persistent microphone issues that included late switch-ons and feedback — with the calmness of experience, and Maxine transformed a late cue that threatened to derail her verse on ‘Four Women’ into an audacious and unforgettable scat solo.

The individuality of the singers was amplified by the band’s impeccable performance. Pianist Sarah Tandy excelled on her several features, including a solo on ‘I Loves You Porgy’ that suavely complemented Maxine’s vocal grace. The trumpet section, alongside trombone soloist Christ-Stephane Boizi, punctuated Rae’s laid-back swagger on ‘My Baby Just Cares for Me’; two songs earlier, the star songwriter snarled her way through ‘I Put a Spell on You’ in heated dialogue with Lewis Daniel’s growling tenor saxophone. The orchestra got a moment to shine alone on the medley of ‘Africa Mailman’ and ‘Sinnerman’ that opened the second set. Rod Youngs and Peter Rayner grooved hard, and the full orchestra clapping a beat while saxophonist Denys Baptiste ripped a Shabaka Hutchings-inflected solo proved one of the evening’s most memorable moments.
Mississippi Goddam is part of a collaboration just beginning between the Southbank Centre and Montreux Jazz Festival. This first weekend celebrates the legacy of Simone and James Baldwin through the voices of the black artists at the forefront of modern British jazz. In addition to the quintet of vocalists featured in this event, the weekend’s programme boasts saxophonist and rapper Soweto Kinch, poet Inua Ellams, and NYJO’s Lucy-Anne Daniels and Akin Soul. The residency seeks to explore the question ‘what is jazz today?’, and its curated blend of historical recognition and contemporary re-imagining provides a compelling platform from which to do so.
In many ways, jazz is what it has always been: a cry for liberation and a celebration of life, a new generation of radical thinkers presenting their ideas to the world and imploring it to change for the better. Nina Simone defined a part of that tradition, and these singers are ensuring the living preservation of her vision.

For an encore, the orchestra reprised ‘Four Women’, Simone’s 1966 song that plainly demonstrates how, a century after its abolishment, slavery continued to control the possibilities afforded to black American women through economic segregation and derogatory stereotypes. Its stark depictions stood in contrast to the almost jubilant fury of ‘Mississippi Goddam’, Simone’s civil rights anthem from three years prior. Coupled, the songs presented how dueling sides of Simone’s personality grappled with being black in 1960s America. Although she would soon flee the country altogether, she never stopped campaigning for change. China Moses’ belting delivery of the final line – “My name is Peaches” – while the other three women stood silently beside her served as a reminder that while the work for equality remains unfinished, the determination that it will be done persists.
SET LISTS
Set 1
See Line Woman – China Moses
I Loves You Porgy – Ni Maxine
I Wish I knew How – Tony Njoku
Plain Gold Ring – Laura Mvula
I Put a Spell on You – Corinne Bailey Rae
Be my Husband – Corinne Bailey Rae +BV’s, Ni Maxine, China Moses
My Baby Just Cares – Corinne Bailey Rae
Set 2
Africa Mailman/Sinner man Medley – instrumental
Little Girl Blue – Laura Mvula
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – China Moses
Baltimore – Tony Njoku
Four Women – Laura Mvula, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ni Maxine, China Moses
Stars – Laura Mvula
Feeling Good – Corinne Bailey Rae
Mississippi Goddam – Everyone.
NEW CIVILISATION ORCHESTRA
Music Director/conductor – Peter Edwards
Violin 1: Abbie Davis ( Leader), Nicole Petrus Barracks, Aaliyah Booker, Maddy Dawson, Claudia Dehnke, Nadia Simon, Jordan Earnshaw, Romana Szczepaniak
Violin 2: Valeria Pozzo, Natalia Wierzbicka, Johanna Burnheart, Jamal Hope, Rhiannon Dimond, Sam Brown
Viola: Julia Dos Reis, Charis Morgan, Evie Hilyer-Ziegler, Abby Adams
Cello: Miranda Lewis-Brown, Abbie Muvuma, Josie Campbell, Hoda Jahanpour
Bass: Charlie Pyne, Jihad Darwish
Flute/Oboe: Catriona Lockhart, Rowland Sutherland, Alexandra Topczewska
Reeds/saxes: Lewis Daniel, Maddy Coombs, Denys Baptiste, Will Gibson, Rhiannon Jeffreys
Trumpets: Becca Toft, Mark Kavuma, Kurt Mayling, Joti
Trombones: Rosie Turton, Christ-Stephane Boizi, Jai Patel, Hanna Mbuya
Horns: Eleanor Blakeney, Georgia Dawson
Harp: Alina Bzhezhinska
Guitar: Ed Riches
Piano: Sarah Tandy
Drums/ Percussion, Rod Youngs, Peter Rayner