Post Description

Nnenna Freelon, (1954) is an American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger. She has been nominated for six Grammy Awards for her vocal work, and has performed and toured with such top artists as Ray Charles, Ellis Marsalis, Al Jarreau, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall, Ramsey Lewis, George Benson, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, just to name a few.

One critic described her as "a spell-binding professional, who rivets attention with her glorious, cultivated voice and canny stagecraft". She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Ellington Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Apollo Theater, Montreux Jazz Festival, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and more.

Freelon was born Chinyere Nnenna Pierce in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a young woman, she sang extensively in her community and the Union Baptist Church and at St. Paul AME. Nnenna graduated from Simmons College in Boston, with a degree in health care administration. For a while she worked for the Durham County Hospital Corporation, Durham, North Carolina. Nnenna followed her grandmother's sage advice regarding her singing aspirations. "I did something that my grandmother told me: 'bloom where you're planted’, "don't get on a bus and go to New York or L.A., sing where you are."

She was in her late 30s when she made her debut CD, Nnenna Freelon, for Columbia Records in 1992. The label dropped her in 1994, and Concord Records signed her in 1996.

Freelon's seventh album is Tales of Wonder (2002), covers hit songs written and/or recorded by Stevie Wonder. She considers him one of the greatest artists of our time and describes how his music easily became her music, as it touched her life throughout the years. "A lot of Stevie Wonder's music is on the level of many other unique artists like Duke Ellington, like Thelonious Monk. When you hear Stevie, you know that's who it is. I put him in a genius class, he's fabulous." 

On her Grammy-nominated release, Blueprint of a Lady: Sketches of Billie Holiday (2005), which comes highly recommended, Freelon pays tribute to the quintessential jazz vocalist Billie Holiday in the best possible way—without imitation and putting her own interpretations on material written by or associated with Lady Day. Her band, adjusted to fit the mood of each song, skillfully complements her at every turn. With Freelon is a group of veteran jazz artists who give her album a welcome presence. Tenor saxophonist Dave Ellis, trumpeter Christian Scott, and flutist Mary Fettig add stellar musical partnerships to the program. Freelon's long-term quartet of Brandon McCune, Wayne Bachelor, Kinah Boto, and Beverly Botsford provide cohesive accompaniment that serves as an intuitive accompaniment for her vocal offerings.

01 - Nnenna Freelon - The Lamp Is Low.mp3
02 - Nnenna Freelon - I Feel Pretty.mp3
03 - Nnenna Freelon - The Very Thought Of You.mp3
04 - Nnenna Freelon - (Theme From) Valley of the Dolls.mp3
05 - Nnenna Freelon - Smile.mp3
06 - Nnenna Freelon - You and the Night and the Music.mp3
07 - Nnenna Freelon - Cell Phone Blues.mp3
08 - Nnenna Freelon - Get Out of Town.mp3
09 - Nnenna Freelon - Skylark.mp3
10 - Nnenna Freelon - Lift Every Voice and Sing.mp3
11 - Nnenna Freelon - America the Beautiful.mp3