Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps

it. It's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream

van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to evil genius on BBC sounds. Thanks for downloading

the BBC Arts and Ideas podcast. The conversation you're about to hear picks up on themes inspired by the summer's BBC proms concerts.

If you're moved to listen to the music,

you can find every concert broadcast on Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.

Now over to the audience in the Imperial College Theatre

next to the Royal Albert Hall.

BBC Sounds, music, Radio, Podcasts.

Hello, I'm Kevin Lejean and as a journalist and broadcaster.

I largely cover soul and jazz and black music, things that are very relevant to the legendary

Nina Simone, though she also investigated many other styles of music, and she was also a great

political activist. So to discuss her unique body of work and legacy, I'm joined by the poet and

musician Zena Edwards, and the singer and cellist Ianna Witter Johnson. Welcome to you both.

I remember that the first time I heard Nina Simone was back in the 80s

and it was the reissued version of My Baby Just Cares for Me,

which was a massive hit, something that she recorded in the 50s.

Hearing the voice was really important because it conveyed so much emotion, she had so much character and so much power,

but also the piano playing caught my ear as well because it was so energetic and so strong.

So let me ask both of you to take us down memory lane and tell me when was the first time you heard Nina Simone and what impact she had on you?

Ayanna.

For me, similar to you, Kevin, it was also my baby just cares for me.

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