There came a moment while Simone was recording a reworking of “Feeling Good,” one of her mother’s classic and memorable tunes, when her entire musical career path finally seemed to click into place.

She had been hesitant to approach the song made famous by late jazz and soul sensation Nina Simone, putting it off until she had finished all the other songs on her 2008 tribute album “Simone on Simone.” But when she began to sing the familiar lyrics, her reservations gradually melted away. By the time she sang the final lines—“Oh freedom is mine / And I know how I feel”—Simone felt liberated.

“I began to tell my story,” she said in a recent interview with The Wire. “You feel it, you hear it, and there’s no doubt that I take (the song) somewhere that’s totally mine.”

Simone puts her unique stamp on all 13 tracks on her debut solo album, each hand-selected from her mother’s prodigious repertoire and conducted with the backing of a 19-piece big band. She will perform songs from the album, along with some original material and other covers, at The Music Hall in Portsmouth during a Valentine’s Day show on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Known as The High Priestess of Soul (also the title of a 1967 album), Nina Simone was a 15-time Grammy Award nominated singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist. Her intensely passionate and emotional vocals made her an idol in the jazz, soul and gospel genres, and her work has been covered by everyone from Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack to David Bowie and Marilyn Manson.

It can be difficult for children growing up in the shadow of a famous parent. Born Lisa Celeste Stroud, Simone traveled the world with her mother as a child. But as she entered adulthood, she became distanced from her parents. “I was a bit irritated with the adults in my life,” she said. And so, like Michael Corleone in “The Godfather,” Simone initially chose not to enter the family business and instead joined the military. “I just made a really crazy decision, and I don’t even know what made me think of the Air Force,” she said. “It was active rebellion that lasted almost 11 years.”

It was during Simone’s final tour of duty that she had what she now refers to as “the infamous glass of wine” at a piano bar in Frankfurt, Germany. The drink made her feel relaxed enough to get up onstage and sing with the pianist. It was her first public performance. “It just snowballed from there,” she said. 

Word quickly spread that Simone was a talented vocalist, and she began landing regular gigs as a background singer in Germany. Her first solo show took place in 1991 at a ski resort in Switzerland. She had grown weary of her job in the military, and she decided to use the gig as a test of her artistic career potential. “I was at the point where I was just like, ‘OK, what do I want to be doing with the rest of my life? … If I can perform at this ski resort the way I think I can, then perhaps I’m on to something,’” she said.
Needless to say, the show went well.

But Simone still had to pay her dues before making it big in the music business. She spent two years traveling the world as a backup singer for Latin superstar Raphael before moving to Los Angeles and forming a group called Aura. The gigs were not always well attended, and Simone sometimes found herself hitting the ATM after shows to make sure her band got paid.

Even Simone’s parents were “shocked and mortified” that she had decided to drop everything to pursue music. But she never lost faith in herself. “I never doubted my own ability to be able to do my own thing and hang with those people that were famous at the time,” she said. “I’m glad I didn’t let other people’s doubts cloud my belief in myself.”

Simone’s ambition paid off when the touring company of Broadway musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” approached her in 1995 and asked her to audition. She became the first and only woman to play the roles of both Mary and Simon.

A year later, Simone landed a lead role as Mimi Marquez in “Rent.” She spent about two years touring the nation with the musical, earning several Broadway award nominations. When the musical’s run ended in Chicago, she became the lead singer of acid jazz band Liquid Soul, which earned a Grammy nomination for the album “Here’s the Deal.”

Awed by her Broadway success, Simone’s parents finally recognized her talent. She fulfilled a lifelong dream of performing with her mother for the first time in 1999 at the Guinness Blues Festival in Dublin, and then opened for her at Royal Albert Hall in London. 

In 2001, Simone took the lead role in the rock musical “Aida,” with music by Elton John and Tim Rice. Her performance during the national tour won her a National Broadway Theater Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

The idea of recording a tribute album for her mother initially came up in the late 1990s. She had told her mother that she hoped to make a tribute album for her while she was still alive. “I also always told her that she was the doorway through which I had to walk in order to achieve my superstardom,” Simone said. “I just didn’t know how prophetic that was.”

Nina Simone died in 2003. But she left her daughter with the charted music for more than 50 compositions, as well as many of her old records. When it came time to select songs for the tribute album, Simone turned to the same source of inspiration that spurred her to make her first public singing appearance. “I had another glass of wine,” she said with a laugh.

It took her only 45 minutes to pick out 11 songs for the album, intuitively selecting tunes with deep personal significance. “I’ve been living with these songs all my life. It’s not something that I really have to give a lot of thought to,” she said.

While children of famous entertainers often seek to distance themselves from their parents, Simone chose to showcase her relationship with her mother for her first solo album. She ran away from that relationship for too long during her military days, she said. “It’s about turning around to embrace who I am, where I come from and the people that made me who I am today,” she said. “I’m very proud of my bloodline. I’m proud of my mother and what she’s accomplished.”

Simone grew up listening to acts like Otis Redding and The Supremes. During her teen years, she got into George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. At the age of 15, she began singing gospel music in church. Noting that even blues and jazz music is deeply rooted in old spirituals, she said she still brings that gospel sensibility to the stage every time she sings. Her voice isn’t quite as deep as her mother’s, her vibrato not quite as loose, but the talent she inherited is evident.

Performing her mother’s songs in her own voice is a cathartic experience for Simone. “It feels good. It’s taken a lot of healing on my part and it’s taken a lot of letting go of things that no longer matter and it’s taken a lot of deciding to hold on to the joy of who I am and what remains of my mom and me,” she said. “When I sing, I’m able to communicate that joy. It feels good to be left with that.”

Simone will begin recording an album of original material this month and hopes to release it before year’s end. She said the music on the new disc will channel the beat-driven funk sound that she preferred in her teen years. Talking about the project, she could hardly contain her giddiness.

“It feels so good to finally, finally, finally be able to get to me. No matter where I go, I’m my mothers’ daughter. I’m the legacy walking. I don’t have to drown in that world,” she said. “My mom’s passed on. She really doesn’t care. I’m still here, and I have my own destiny to fulfill.”

Simone and her band will be at The Music Hall on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $30. The Music Hall is at 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth. Call 603-436-2400 or visit www.themusichall.org. For more  information on Simone, visit www.simonesworld.com.