Nina freelon biography

Nnenna Freelon is an American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger.
Nnenna Freelon (born July 28, 1954) is an American jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger.
Six-time GRAMMY® Award nominee Nnenna.

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Freelon, Nnenna 1954–

Jazz vocalist

Performed in Churches

Developed Individual Style

Promoted Jazz in Schools

Selected discography

Sources

A late bloomer who first took up jazz singing in adulthood, Nnenna Freelon ranked among the most exciting vocalists in the jazz field by the early 21st century. With a technique rooted in the stylings of jazz legend Sarah Vaughan, Freelon incorporated diverse influences ranging from gospel to folk music to hip-hop into a classic improvisational framework. Freelon also e-merged as a spokesperson for the inclusion of jazz education in school curricula, and has devoted much time and energy to that cause.

Nnenna Chinyere Freelon (her first name is pronounced “Nina,” with a long “e” sound) was born on July 28, 1954 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the home of Harvard University and perhaps the most sophisticated academic community in the United States. Her early upbringing was filled with contrasts that, some would suggest, later manifested themselves in her music. Freelon’s father, a television repairman, w

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Looking For Live Music?Kauai Music Scene.com

Six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominee Nnenna Freelon has earned a well-deserved reputation as a compelling and captivating live performer. In 2009, Nnenna Freelon triumphed in two productions: first, Freelon paired with Opera Superstar Jessye Norman and the Indie phenom band The Roots in composer Laura Karpman’s undertaking of Langston Hughes’ “Ask Your Mama” at The Hollywood Bowl and, second, in...

... SRO-shows at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival with the Duke Ellington-inspired “Dreaming The Duke” with classical star Harolyn Blackwell and pop-jazz-crossover pianist Mike Garson. The versatile songstress quickly followed that with a third stunning turn, this time with The World Famous Count Basie Orchestra to celebrate their new Mack Avenue recording on which she can be heard.

Concord Records will release a new recording by Freelon – her first brand new recording in four years!

Most recently, Freelon could be heard returning to television: the Emmy-Award winning show Mad Men featured Freelon’s voice on their Oct. 11, 2009

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Nnenna Freelon, Singer born

*Nnenna Freelon was born on this date in 1954. She is a Black jazz singer, composer, producer, and arranger.

Freelon was born Chinyere Nnenna Pierce to Charles and Frances Pierce in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has a brother named Melvin and a sister named Debbie. As a young woman, she sang in her community, Union Baptist Church, and St. Paul AME Church. Freelon graduated from Simmons College in Boston with a degree in health care administration. She worked for the Durham County Hospital Corporation in Durham, North Carolina, for a while. She says her influences included Nina Simone and Billy Eckstine, whose records her parents played at home. "It's important to expose your children to a wide musical environment," she says. "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'."

In 1979, she married architect Philip Freelon. She and her husband raised three chil