Few artists in the music profession are as unclassifiable as Nina Simone. During her long career she tackled material from a variety of styles, garnering an audience that included soul devotees, folk followers, R&B lovers and even jazz buffs. Embarking on this project, she joined a host of seriously talented individuals: the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine and Frank Sinatra, who had recorded, and would continue to record, items from the Ellington songbook for many years to come.