･ LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITIONS
･ NEWLY REMASTERED
･ OUTSTANDING NEW COVERS
･ DIRECT METAL MASTERING
･ 180g LP - AUDIOPHILE PRESSING

NINA SIMONE， vocals & piano; JIMMY BOND， bass; ALBERT “TOOTIE” HEATH， drums. Bond & Heath out on “Don’t Smoke in Bed”. New York， December 1957.

Side A
1. MOOD INDIGO (Duke Ellington-Barney Bigard-Irving Mills)
2. DON’T SMOKE IN BED (Willard Robinson)
3. HE NEEDS ME (Arthur Hamilton)
4. LITTLE GIRL BLUE (Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart)
5. LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (Gus Kahn-Walter Donaldson)
6. MY BABY JUST CARES FOR ME (Gus Kahn-Walter Donaldson)
7. HE’S GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS (Traditional; arr. Nina Simone) *
Side B
1. GOOD BAIT (Tadd Dameron-Count Basie) [instrumental]
2. PLAIN GOLD RING (Earl S. Burroughs)
3. YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE (Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein II)
4. I LOVES YOU PORGY (George & Ira Gershwin)
5. CENTRAL PARK BLUES (Nina Simone) [instrumental]
*Bonus track. From the same sessions but not included on the original LP.

Little Girl Blue， released in 1957， was Nina Simone’s first studio recording ever. It was originally issued on the Bethlehem label and features the singer and pianist backed by bassist Jimmy Bond (who had been a member of the Chet Baker Quartet among other groups) and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath， one of the celebrated Heath brothers (the other two being saxophonist Jimmy Heath， and bassist Percy Heath). Many of the tracks from this LP would become true classics， among them her perennial version of “My Baby Just Cares For Me”. All Music Guide reviewer Thom Jurek gave the album four stars， staring that Little Girl Blue showcases her ballad voice as one of mystery and sensuality and showcases her up-tempo jazz style with authority and an enigmatic down-home feel that is nonetheless elegant.” Made when she was 25 years old， Little Girl Blue was a tremendous success which led to a fabulous career that would produce more than 80 studio sessions. Simone’s deep voice (ranging from alto all the way down to the baritone register) was always imbued with a fiery intensity and a powerful emotional quality that could vary from jubilation to deep sadness from one song to the next (it was later discovered that this was a reflection of her own emotional state as she was secretly diagnosed with a bipolar disorder in the mid-‘60s). This album introduced Nina not only as a brilliant singer， but also as a unique jazz pianist. She was a solid improviser and her reworking of such well-known standards as Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo” and Tadd Dameron’s “Good Bait”， besides being highly inventive， reveal her extensive classical music training. It’s interesting to note that while this was her first recording， it showcases an artist that was already fully formed. Simone was always close to the blues， and on “You’ll Never Walk Alone” she transforms the Rodgers & Hammerstein show tune into gospel. Simone’s signature tune， “I Loves You， Porgy，” appears here in her first recorded version. This performance was also releas