Nina Simone's Guitarist Al Schackman Releases Book of Their Untold Stories

NEW YORK - EntSun -- Legendary jazz guitarist announced today the release of his memoir - Me, My Guitar, and Nina Simone: Stories of My Musical Life and Adventures with Nina. Offering an intimate backstage pass into the life of one of history's most complex musical icons, Schackman brings together his collection of stories from more than four decades as Simone's confidant, musical director, and guitarist. The book also goes beyond, highlighting a career with iconic performers and pulls back the curtain on a golden era of music, balancing historical significance with poignant stories from a lifetime performing globally. Schackman is a great storyteller and paints vivid pictures of his musical journey.

When Schackman first met Simone in 1958, neither could have predicted it would spark a lifelong musical partnership spanning 43 years. "Nina wasn't just an unforgettable talent - she was a revolutionary force, and being her musical director meant being part of a movement. I've spent more than 70 years playing everything from jazz to blues to folk to composing for TV, but my years with Nina were completely singular and extraordinary," said Schackman. "People know Nina, but I wanted to share the private moments of our deep kinship that went far beyond the stage – not just our history or the notes we played, but the completely unvarnished moments we shared. I wanted to recount things exactly as they happened to honor the true, unedited story of our years together."

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Through a seven decades career, the book chronicles:

• Front Lines of Civil Rights: Navigating the segregated South as a white artist in an all-Black band, dealing with police alongside Army band members Wynton Kelly and Duke Pearson, traveling with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and performing Simone's "Mississippi Goddam" at the Selma to Montgomery March.
• Backstage Realities: Never-before-told accounts of Simone flying into Casablanca with a firearm, escapades with James Baldwin in Paris, a romance with Kim Novak, and navigating Simone's battles with mental health and relationships.
• Lifelong Musical Lineage: Schackman shares stories as a house session guitarist for Atlantic and Columbia Records and performing with other icons: Dinah Washington, Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Sarah Vaughan, Faron Young, and Ron Carter. The book dives into his work as an Emmy-nominated Hollywood composer for CBS series Palmerstown and for his contributions to ABC-TV series, Schoolhouse Rock!.

"Al was more than just my guitarist…he was my anchor," Simone remarked of their relationship.

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The book is available at major retailers, independent bookstores nationwide and Amazon:
https://a.co/d/0dm2ftE9. For a digital copy, permissions or interview contact Laura Hall.