Nnenna Freelon

{{Infobox musical artist 2 |Name = Nnenna Freelon |Img = Nnenna_Freelon,_Clark_Terry.jpg |Image_size = 350px |Img_capt = Freelon performed at the White House with flugelhorn player Clark Terry in 2006]]. |Background = solo_singer |Birth_name = Chinyere Nnenna Pierce |Alias = |Born = (1954-07-28)July 28, 1954 |Died = |Origin = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States |Genre = Vocal jazz,
Cool jazz
Traditional pop
|Years_active = 1992 — Present |Label = Concord Record, etc.

|url = nnenna.com }}

Nnenna Freelon, (birth name Chinyere Nnenna Pierce), (born July 28, 1954), native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 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, George Benson, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, among many others. She's a spell-binding professional, who revets 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.

Biography

Nnenna Freelon was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Charles and Frances Pierce, and as a young woman she sang extensively in her community and the Union Baptist Church and at St. Paul AM. She has a brother Melvin and a sister named Debbie. Nnenna graduated from Simmons College in Boston, with a degree in health care administration. For a while worked for the Durham County Hospital Corporation, Durham, North Carolina. The Kennedy Center interview with Nnenna:

I started singing in the church, like so many others. . . ." She suggests that her influences included several "not famous people," as well as such familiar names as Nina Simone and Billy Eckstine, artists whose records her parents played at home. "Its important to expose your children to a wide musical environment," she says, grateful that her parents did just that. Nnenna followed her grandmother's sage advice regarding those 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."

Family

In 1979, married architect Philip G. Freelon, native of Philadelphia, raised three children, Deen, Maya and Pierce, before deciding to go pro as a jazz singer. Philip G. Freelon is founder and president of the Freelon Group architectual firm, at Research Triangle Park, Charlotte, North Carolina, the second largest in the state of North Carolina.</ref>http://www.freelon.com/about-freelon/principals/108 The Freelon Group]</ref> As of 2005, the Freelon Group has 55 employees in two offices and works on a variety of projects, from airport terminals and hospitals to corporate headquarters and campus buildings.

Their son Pierce Freelon, is currently a fellow in the Pan-African Studies Masters program at Syracuse University, founded a website called Blackademics where he's had the honor to interview many notable figures such as Angela Davis, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, and Jesse Jackson. Deen Freelon, grad student in political communication at the University of Washinton, Seattle, is the site webmaster. Daughter Maya Freelon, is an award-winning visual artist.

Recording career

In 1990, Nnenna Freelon went to the Southern Arts Federation’s jazz meeting and met Ellis Marsalis. "That was a big turning point. At that time, I had been singing for seven years. Ellis is an educator and he wanted to nurture and help. What I didn’t know at the time was that George Butler of Columbia Records was looking for a female singer. Ellis asked me for a package of materials. I had my little local press kit and my little tape with original music. Two years later, I was signed to Columbia Records.” 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.

In “Maiden Voyage” (1998), she leaves behind standard and comfortable conventions and releases an inner spirit that allows her to creatively soar to a higher dimension. Watch out! When a woman reaches this point there's no telling what will come next. 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.

Discography

Year	Title	Genre	Label
1992	Nnenna Freelon	Jazz	Columbia
1993	Heritage	Jazz	Columbia
1994	Listen	Jazz	Columbia
1996	Shaking Free	Jazz	Concord
1998	Maiden Voyage	Jazz	Concord
2000	Soulcall	Jazz	Concord
2002	Tales of Wonder	Jazz	Concord
2003	Church - Songs of Soul and Inspiration	Gospel	Concord
2003	Live at The Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.	Jazz Concord
2005	Blueprint of a Lady	Jazz	Concord

• 2007: Freelon & The Count Basie Orchestra - (Pending Release 2007)

Grammy history

• Career Nominations: 6

Nnenna Freelon Grammy History
Year	Category	Genre	Title	Result
2005	Best Jazz Vocal Album	Jazz	Blueprint of a Lady - Sketches of Billie Holiday	Nominated
2001	Jazz Vocal Album	Jazz	Soulcall	Nominated
2001	Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal	Jazz	Button Up Your Overcoat	Nominated
1998	Jazz Vocal Performance	Jazz	Maiden Voyage	Nominated
1996	Best Jazz Vocal Performance	Jazz	Shaking Free	Nominated

Her Babysong workshops

Nnenna Freelon is deeply involved in arts education as the national spokesperson for the National Association of Partners in Education, an organization with over 400,000 school/community partnership programs across the United States, dedicated to the improvement of the quality of American education by supporting arts education programs. Freelon has also maintained ties to her hospital-work roots as her jazz career has flourished. Her Babysong workshops, which she launched at Duke University Medical Center in 1990, teach young mothers and healthcare providers the importance of the human voice for healing and nurturing. She particularly stresses the importance of parents singing to small children to enhance brain development. On February 21, 2001, Nnenna Freelon earned a rousing standing ovation for her stunning live performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards telecast in Los Angeles, Take 6 & Nnenna Freelon performs Straighten Up And Fly Right

External links

• Official Site
• Nnenna Freelon and The World Famous Count Basie Orchestra
• Review of Blueprint of a Lady at Jazz Chicago
• Discography of Nnenna Freelon

See also

"Lady Sings The Blues" recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival [http://youtube.com/watch?v=CSqQPTtUW2o Round Midnight, December of 1996, Nnenna is accompanied by Herbie Hancock - piano