O Happy Day

Rarely does the bad news suddenly turn to good, and then get even better. So let's savor it: Kim Nalley's sweet jazz boite went belly up, we were told, but then made a miraculous recovery. Even better, we missed what we thought was the last chance to see Nalley's tribute "She Put a Spell on Me: Kim Nalley Sings Nina Simone," but we've been granted a reprieve. Every Tuesday in May, the woman who owns Jazz at Pearl's puts her amazing voice to work in honor of Simone, whose passion, talent, and political intensity were right up there with the likes of Lenny Bruce or Paul Robeson. To sing "Mississippi Goddamn" alone is a job for a grown woman only, so to perform a whole evening of Simone's songs (presumably those from Nalley's great CD of the same name) must be exhausting. Yet that's the first thing Nalley has done with her Lazarus jazz club.
Tuesdays, 8 & 10 p.m. Starts: May 6. Continues through May 31, 2008