NNENNA FREELON

Nnenna Chinyere Freelon stands out as a globally acclaimed jazz singer whose extensive discography has earned her multiple Grammy nominations. What truly distinguishes her path from that of many other established female jazz artists is the unusually late start to her recording career, which did not begin until she reached her late thirties. Born Nnenna Chinyere Pierce in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1954, she sang in church from childhood yet waited many years before treating music as a profession. After earning a health-care administration degree from Simmons College, she spent time employed in social services by the hospital corporation in Durham, North Carolina. In 1979 she wed architect Philip Freelon, and the pair raised three children before she seriously contemplated a musical vocation. Studying under Yusef Lateef, she honed her vocal approach by closely observing horn players.

Her pivotal opportunity arrived in 1990 at the Southern Arts Federation jazz gathering, where she sat in with Ellis Marsalis. At that moment Marsalis handled A&R duties for Dr. George Butler at Columbia Records; he requested a tape from the singer, forwarded it to Butler, and secured her a contract. The self-titled debut appeared in 1992 and drew mixed notices because of its pronounced stylistic resemblance to Sarah Vaughan, an influence attributable more to the producer than to Freelon herself. Her follow-up, the ballad-rich Heritage, came out in 1993 and was embraced by both reviewers and listeners as a standout achievement. With the 1994 release Listen she fully asserted her personal voice and artistic identity, closing her tenure at Columbia.

Signing with Concord in 1995 afforded her substantially greater creative latitude. Shaking Free, her initial album for the label, arrived in 1996 and brought her first Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. Maiden Voyage followed in 1998, again earning a nomination in the same category; the project revealed her fascination with women’s roles in music and culture through daring yet graceful readings of jazz standards alongside pop and folk material. In 2000 she expanded her reach by making her screen debut in the feature What Women Want while issuing her first self-produced recording, Soulcall. That album earned two Grammy nominations—one for Best Jazz Vocal Album and another for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal on her version of the standard “Button Up Your Overcoat.”

Tales of Wonder: Celebrating Stevie Wonder appeared in 2002 as a tribute to the Motown icon’s songbook and garnered yet another Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. She documented a live set in 2005, then delivered the audacious Blueprint of a Lady: Sketches of Billie Holiday in 2006, an album that reimagined Holiday-associated material in fresh contemporary contexts and reflected Freelon’s own distinctive vision. Although some jazz critics objected to these liberties with Lady Day’s legacy, the Recording Industry Association of America still recognized her with a further Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 2008 she served as the sole vocalist on the Monterey Jazz Festival: 50th Anniversary All-Stars album, fronting an ensemble that included Benny Green, James Moody, Terence Blanchard, Kendrick Scott, and Derrick Hodge. Ms. Freelon issued her seventh Concord project, Homefree, in 2010.