04
Feb
2003
Nnenna Freelon's passion for singing in public was ignited at the age of seven, when she faced an audience alone for the first time. She said that she was petrified, but after finishing singing "Amazing Grace" and seeing the smiles and hearing the clapping and "Amen"s, she wanted more.
But after graduating from Simmons College in Boston with a degree in health-care administration, she settled down in Durham, North Carolina. She had a good job as a hospital administrator, which she thought should have kept her satisfied, and a husband and three children. But she had that longing to be a singer and found it difficult to keep that desire hidden. Finally, her husband told her that he wasn't going to let her use him and the family as an excuse for her unfulfilled dreams. He insisted that she go for it.
That has paid off for Freelon, who's become an internationally renowned jazz singer. She's in the Quad Cities through February 8 as part of the Quad City Arts Visiting Artist series, conducting workshops at area schools. She and her touring band will perform on Saturday, February 8, at the Adler Theatre in downtown Davenport.
Freelon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 28, 1954. Her early influences were The Stylistics and The Spinners, whom she heard on the radio. As she grew older, she got interested in Odetta, Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan.
In the early 1980s, after her husband pushed her to pursue her dream, Nnenna started getting a few singing gigs in small clubs around the Durham area. In the beginning she only knew eight songs, so she began building up her repertoire by learning a new song every week. She also began to learn how to play the piano.
Eventually, she began working larger venues throughout the Southeast. In 1990, at the Southern Arts Federation Jazz Forum in Atlanta, she met the great jazz pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, who was so impressed with her singing that he introduced her to George Butler, the music executive for Columbia Records. Nnenna's self-titled debut was released by Columbia in 1992. She recorded two more CDs before departing from Columbia in 1994.
Nnenna signed with Concord Records in 1996 and recorded the CD Shaking Free, followed by Maiden Voyage, which was dedicated to women songwriters. In 1997, she and fellow jazz singer Dianne Reeves recorded Jon Hendricks' lyrics to Thelonious Monk's "Suddenly" on T.S. Monk's CD Monk on Monk. Freelon produced her third Concord CD, which earned her Grammy nominations numbers four and five. Her latest CD is Tales of Wonder: Celebrating Stevie Wonder.
She made her feature-film debut in the Mel Gibson hit What Women Want and did a poignant re-make of Sinatra's classic "Fly Me to the Moon" for The Visit, starring Billy Dee Williams. Nnenna has also appeared in command performances for Julie Andrews at the Society of Singers "Ella Awards" and the Steven Sondheim Tribute at Carnegie Hall. In addition, she's the national spokesperson for Partners in Education, an organization dedicated to the improvement of American education through arts-education programs. Among the honors received by Freelon are the Billie Holiday Award from France's Academie du Jazz and the Eubie Blake Award. She has been nominated twice for the "Lady of Soul" Soul Train Award.
The musicians expected to perform with Freelon during her residency are members of her touring band: pianist Takana Miyamoto, who will be with her at all workshops and concerts; bassist Wayne Bachelor; drummer Woody Williams; and percussionist Beverly Botsford.
Freelon will close out her residency with a concert backed by her touring band at the Adler Theatre on Saturday, February 8, starting at 7 p.m. Admission is $11.50 for adults.
But after graduating from Simmons College in Boston with a degree in health-care administration, she settled down in Durham, North Carolina. She had a good job as a hospital administrator, which she thought should have kept her satisfied, and a husband and three children. But she had that longing to be a singer and found it difficult to keep that desire hidden. Finally, her husband told her that he wasn't going to let her use him and the family as an excuse for her unfulfilled dreams. He insisted that she go for it.
That has paid off for Freelon, who's become an internationally renowned jazz singer. She's in the Quad Cities through February 8 as part of the Quad City Arts Visiting Artist series, conducting workshops at area schools. She and her touring band will perform on Saturday, February 8, at the Adler Theatre in downtown Davenport.
Freelon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 28, 1954. Her early influences were The Stylistics and The Spinners, whom she heard on the radio. As she grew older, she got interested in Odetta, Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan.
In the early 1980s, after her husband pushed her to pursue her dream, Nnenna started getting a few singing gigs in small clubs around the Durham area. In the beginning she only knew eight songs, so she began building up her repertoire by learning a new song every week. She also began to learn how to play the piano.
Eventually, she began working larger venues throughout the Southeast. In 1990, at the Southern Arts Federation Jazz Forum in Atlanta, she met the great jazz pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, who was so impressed with her singing that he introduced her to George Butler, the music executive for Columbia Records. Nnenna's self-titled debut was released by Columbia in 1992. She recorded two more CDs before departing from Columbia in 1994.
Nnenna signed with Concord Records in 1996 and recorded the CD Shaking Free, followed by Maiden Voyage, which was dedicated to women songwriters. In 1997, she and fellow jazz singer Dianne Reeves recorded Jon Hendricks' lyrics to Thelonious Monk's "Suddenly" on T.S. Monk's CD Monk on Monk. Freelon produced her third Concord CD, which earned her Grammy nominations numbers four and five. Her latest CD is Tales of Wonder: Celebrating Stevie Wonder.
She made her feature-film debut in the Mel Gibson hit What Women Want and did a poignant re-make of Sinatra's classic "Fly Me to the Moon" for The Visit, starring Billy Dee Williams. Nnenna has also appeared in command performances for Julie Andrews at the Society of Singers "Ella Awards" and the Steven Sondheim Tribute at Carnegie Hall. In addition, she's the national spokesperson for Partners in Education, an organization dedicated to the improvement of American education through arts-education programs. Among the honors received by Freelon are the Billie Holiday Award from France's Academie du Jazz and the Eubie Blake Award. She has been nominated twice for the "Lady of Soul" Soul Train Award.
The musicians expected to perform with Freelon during her residency are members of her touring band: pianist Takana Miyamoto, who will be with her at all workshops and concerts; bassist Wayne Bachelor; drummer Woody Williams; and percussionist Beverly Botsford.
Freelon will close out her residency with a concert backed by her touring band at the Adler Theatre on Saturday, February 8, starting at 7 p.m. Admission is $11.50 for adults.
