“It took a long time for my mother to accept that I was going to go into the entertainment industry,” said Simone, daughter of Nina Simone, in a recent interview. “When I told my parents, neither one of them were very happy at all. It wasn’t until Broadway embraced me, and I was going onstage as Mimi in Rent, that they both came to the show and were like, ‘Well! Maybe you do have a little talent!’” Of course, Simone’s mother, one of the most unique interpreters of jazz—and then, in the ’70s, of popular song—didn’t get a very fair shake from the entertainment industry, and Simone is careful to avoid both the industry pitfalls and the perils of comparison (it’s an easy peril to avoid; the only singer possibly to compare to Nina Simone, the greatest female singer to sound like a man, is Jimmy Scott, the greatest male singer to sound like a woman). With the Napa Valley Symphony, she pays tribute to her mother, now six years gone but deathless in the annals of American music, on Saturday, May 9, at the Lincoln Theater. 100 California Drive, Yountville. 8pm. $35–$60. 707.226.8742.Gabe Meline
.May 9: Simone at the Lincoln Theater
