Watch Raye cover Nina Simone and Billie Holiday at Montreux Jazz Festival club show

nme.com:

Raye surprised an audience at Montreux Jazz Festival when she covered songs from Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. Check it out below.During one of the festival’s famous ‘jam sessions’, Raye took to the Memphis stage to perform intimate covers of Holiday’s ‘All of Me’ and Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’.The intimate show, seen by only a few hundred people, followed her performance on the festival’s main Lake Stage as part of a double bill with Janelle Monáe.“I also stole a picture of Nina [Simone] from the Jazz festival,” she joked with the audience before starting the cover. “I hope that’s okay, I need something to remember this day by.

I’ll put it here, I love her so much.”It’s the second time she’s covered ‘Feeling Good’ this year, after she shared a stripped-back version for Triple J’s Like A Version series in February.Shortly after the release of the cover, the series also shared a separate video of Raye explaining her love for the song, and why she decided to put her own spin on it out of respect for Simone.“I just love that song so much.

I’ve been singing it since I was like 11 [or] 12. It’s just one of my all-time favourites. I’m intimidated by anything that Nina sings because I think she’s one of one and can’t be imitated.

So I think in my mind I was like ‘I’m going to do it but [in] my own version’ because her version can’t be topped,” she said.Earlier this month, Raye paid homage to Simone while showcasing her new single ‘Genesis‘ at a pop-up exhibition in New York City.