Nina Simone was ignited by the civil rights movement, and her fed-up tirade "Mississippi Goddam" ("And I mean every word of it!" she testified before a New York crowd) surfaces on In Concert, an arresting 1964 album that also includes a stunningly theatrical version of Weil-Brecht-Blitzstein's "Pirate Jenny." The second portion of this two-fer presents the folk-jazz-soul diva backed by an orchestra. Not all of it works (less is almost always more where Simone arrangements are concerned, and Hal Mooney's are, often as not, too lush or too clamorous), but her dynamic version of "I Put a Spell on You" and the pensiveness she brings to Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas" display the singer's versatility. With the inspired live set that anchors this collection, that's enough. --Steven Stolder