More Info on Nnenna FreelonSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Nnenna Freelon|image = Nnenna_Freelon,_Clark_Terry.jpg|Image_size = 450px|caption = Freelon performed at the White House with flugelhorn player Clark Terry in 2006.|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Chinyere Nnenna Pierce http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bal-as.afam05jun05,0,7406682.story? page=2 Interview with Nnenna's husband, architect Philip G. Freelon, (Retrieved August 18, 2007)|alias =|birth_date = Birth date and age|1954|7|28|death_date =|origin = Cambridge, Massachusetts , United States|U.S. |genre = Vocal jazz , Cool jazz , Traditional pop |years_active = 1992–present|label = Concord Records Columbia Records |website = http://www.nnenna.com/ nnenna.com Nnenna Freelon , (born July 28, 1954Citation needed|date=November 2010), is an USA|American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger. She has been nominated for five Grammy Awards for her vocal work, http://www.mdmountainside.com/event.php? eventid=3110 Nnenna Freelon and the Count Basie Orchestra, (Retrieved August 18, 2007) 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".Gourse, Leslie. The Golden Age of Jazz in Paris and Other Stories About Jazz , Xlibris Corporation (2002), page 153 - ISBN 0-7388-2592-1 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
Chinyere Nnenna Pierce 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 AME. She has a brother Melvin and a sister named Debbie. Nnenna graduated from Simmons College (Massachusetts)|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 Los Angeles, California|L.A. , sing where you are." http://www.npr.org/programs/btaylor/pastprograms/nfreelon.html Billy Taylor's Jazz at The Kennedy Center, (Retrieved August 18, 2007)
Family
In 1979, married architect Philip Freelon and raised three children, Deen, Maya and Pierce, before deciding to go pro as a jazz singer. http://www.npr.org/programs/pianojazz/previousguests/spring2002/freelon.html NPR (National Public Radio) Interview (Retrieved August 18, 2007) Their son Pierce Freelon is a Hip-Hop artist, a visiting professor of Political Science at North Carolina Central University and the founder of a website called Blackademics, where he has interviewed many notable figures such as Angela Davis , Maya Angelou , Nikki Giovanni , and Jesse Jackson . http://blackademics.org/ Blackademics websiteDeen Freelon, a doctoral candidate in Communications at the University of Washington , Seattle , is the site webmaster. Daughter Professor 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, Jr.|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. http://www.jazzreview.com/articledetails.cfm? ID=544 The Profound, Introspective and Supremely Talented, Nnenna Freelon, (Retrieved August 18, 2007)
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& #33; When a woman reaches this point there's no telling what will come next. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php? id=2893 All About Jazz (Retrieved August 19, 2007) 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." http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur6997.cfm Nnenna Freelon: Walking In Wonderland, (Retrieved June 7, 2002 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.
Nnenna Freelon will tour with the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Band on a 54-date, 10-week tour of the United States starting January 8, 2008. The band features trumpeter Terence Blanchard , pianist Benny Green (pianist)|Benny Green , saxophonist James Moody (saxophonist)|James Moody , bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Kendrick Scott . http://montereyjazzfestival.org/MJF50-band/ Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Band Tour
Discography
Year
Title
Genre
Label
Allmusic>id=p10597/ charts-awards
1992
Nnenna Freelon
Jazz
Columbia
11
1993
Heritage
10
1994
Listen
20
1996
Shaking Free
Concord
align="center"
1998
Maiden Voyage
10
2000
Soulcall
13
2002
Tales of Wonder
7
2003
Church - Songs of Soul and Inspiration Various Artists - Ooh Child - Nnenna Freelon
Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal
Jazz
Button Up Your Overcoat
Concord
Nominated
1998
Jazz Vocal Performance
Jazz
Maiden Voyage
Concord
Nominated
1996
Best Jazz Vocal Performance
Jazz
Shaking Free
Concord
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. http://www.napehq.org/1.html National Association of Partners in Education 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. http://www.edkeane.com/About%20the%20Artists/Nnenna%20Freelon/BabysongVideo.htm Baby Song Video http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/06/09/freelon_not_afraid_to_voice_individuality/? rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Living+%2F+Arts+News Boston Globe - June 9, 2006, Freelon not afraid to voice individuality, (Retrieved August 18, 2007)
Recognitions
Nnenna Freelon has been awarded the Eubie Blake Award from the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute, and the Billie Holiday Award from the Academie du Jazz. Freelon performed a film soundtrack, remaking Frank Sinatra 's classic " Fly Me to the Moon " for The Visit (2000 film)|The Visit movie, starring Billy Dee Williams . She also had a cameo as a nightclub singer, in the 2001 in film|2001 blockbuster Mel Gibson romantic comedy What Women Want , performing her trademark song " If I Had You (1928 song)|If I Had You ". In addition, she has been nominated twice for the "Lady of Soul" Soul Train Award . http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0293263/ IMDb: Resume Nnenna Freelon Bio 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, performing Straighten Up And Fly Right . http://youtube.com/watch? v=P5g5wkYlUf0 Take 6 & Nnenna Freelon - Straighten Up And Fly Right
Footnotes
Reflist
External links
http://www.nnenna.com/ Nnenna Freelon Official Site
http://www.edkeane.com/About%20the%20Artists/Nnenna%20Freelon/Nnenna-Freelon.htm Nnenna Freelon and The World Famous Count Basie Orchestra
http://www.jazzchicago.net/nnenna.html Review of Blueprint of a Lady at Jazz Chicago
http://www.nnenna.com/album-tow.html Discography of Nnenna Freelon
http://www.billboard.com/#/new-releases/nnenna-freelon-homefree-1004089499.story Nnenna Freelon, "Homefree" by Billboard (magazine)|Billboard
Persondata | NAME = Freelon, Nnenna | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = July 28, 1954 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Freelon, Nnenna Category:1954 births Category:Musicians from Massachusetts Category:Living people Category:American female singers Category:American jazz singers Category:Vocal jazz musicians Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Alumni of women's universities and colleges Category:Female jazz musicians Category:Simmons College (Massachusetts) alumni Category:Jazz singers
