Description

Eight-time GRAMMY® Award nominee Nnenna Freelon and multi-Award winning artist, this Award-winning Jazz Vocalist / Composer / Actress / Playwright has seen SOLD OUT Tour dates upon the release of her new 2025 album, “Beneath The Skin” (her first collection of many originals) in March.  She follows with her debut book release, “Beneath The Skin of Sorrow”  in October 2025!  Accompanied by a new PBS-NC TV release, the year has been spectacular for this astonishing artist!

Watch for her in two brand new shows – WITHERS TO WONDER: Celebrating the Music of Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers, and with THE WORLD FAMOUS COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA Celebrating their 90^th Anniversary year!

Additional Comments

Nnenna is also a wife, mother, and sister who has experienced life's amazing gifts, and also its heartbreak.  The loss of her soulmate and husband, renowned architect Phil Freelon, in 2019 to ALS, followed by the loss of her sister Debbie in 2020 to cancer, have reshaped her way of being in the world. Nnenna has felt the need to find her "voice" once more through the lens of grief and loss.  Her new recording "Time Traveler" is a reflection of this new territory, an intimate expression of her love for Phil and their 40 year journey and a universal love letter to all who’ve lost someone dear.  Her award-winning new Podcast, Greatgrief with Nnenna Freelon, is her effort to create a safe space to share others' stories of loss and grief, and to help build and strengthen community through words and music. Through these difficulties, Nnenna has received remarkable accolades in the past year.  First, she was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.  Second, Nnenna received another GRAMMY® Award nomination for her recent album, 2021’s Time Traveler.  Third,  and to round out 2022, she received the Jazz Masters Award from the prestigious “Women’s Jazz and Blues Association of Palm Springs” As touring in live performance returned after the pandemic, Nnenna starred alongside Take 6, Tom Scott, Kirk Whalum and Clint Holmes in the critically acclaimed show “Georgia on My Mind: Celebrating the Music of Ray Charles,” where she is no stranger to the music of the master singer – she toured with Ray Charles, as well as many other greatest jazz artists including Al Jarreau, George Benson, Benny Golson, Ellis Marsalis, and others. Nnenna has always been respected as an artist and for her passion for education. In November 2011, The White House asked Freelon to headline the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) for 300 Presidents, Premiers and Heads of State from around the world. This was on the heels of receiving the YWCA of North Carolina’s inaugural “Legend Award” for her outstanding artistry and her dedication to education. Freelon has dedicated herself to educating young people, both musicians and non-musicians, and students of all ages.  She toured the United States for four years as the National Spokesperson for Partners in Education. Her master classes and workshops, from “Sound Sculpture” to the ground-breaking “Babysong,” teach adults and children that you too can change the world – even one person at a time. With her anthem “One Child at a Time” found on her Soulcall recording, Freelon took on the task of fundraising and bringing greater attention to the needs of children in education through mentoring and the arts. It has become a sought-after song by countless organizations including the United Way.