Watch Laura Mvula, Corinne Bailey Rae and more perform at ‘Mississipi Goddam’ London tribute

nme.com:

Laura Mvula, Corinne Bailey Rae and more led an all-star tribute to Nina Simone at London’s Southbank Centre. Check out footage, photos, the setlist and more below.Held at the Royal Festival Hall on Friday (January 31), Mississippi Goddam: A Celebration Of Nina Simone saw the Nu Civilisation Orchestra honour the life of the legend with special guest singers, led by conductor Peter Edwards.

The night was made all the more fitting by taking place in the venue of Simone’s legendary 1999 concert as part of Nick Cave‘s Meltdown.

This was one of her final performances before her death in 2003.Taking to the mic were the Mercury-nominated Mvula and Bailey Rae alongside neo-jazz star Ni Maxine, and acclaimed singer-songwriters China Moses and Tony Njoku – all spirited in song and speeches to honour Simone’s dedication to “Blackness, womanhood and the power of music”.Exchanging lead vocal duties and often performing together, the gathered ensemble worked to capture different shades of Simone’s personality but ultimately capture her powerful spirit of defiance and lust for life.A post shared by Southbank Centre (@southbankcentre) Highlights of the night included the smooth and silky turns of Tony Njoku, Ni Maxine’s take on ‘I Loves You Porgy’, Laura Mvula’s tender renditions of ‘Plain Gold Ring’, ‘Stars’ and ‘Little Girl Blue’, China Moses’ weighty delivery of ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’ and ‘See Line Women’, Corrine Bailey Rae’s effortless spin on classics ‘Feeling Good’ and ‘I Put A Spell On You’, and any time that the ensemble came together in song.The collaboration peaked with ‘Mississippi Goddam’ before an almighty encore that saw Bailey Rae announce that while they’d run out of songs to perform “we felt this song was.