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Freelon Great!
By Michael Henningsen
FEBRUARY 23, 1999:
Whoever decided that Shania Twain, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston
and Celine Dion are divas, worthy of performing alongside Aretha
Franklin (who is certainly the only true diva among the aforementioned)
probably refers to Pop Tarts as flaky pastries and prides his
or her self on each and every new cubic zirconia purchase. But
without a doubt, this mystery person has never heard an angel
sing, has never heard Nnenna Freelon.
Breast implants, a high-pitched squeal, a half-assed pout and
the ability to make lyrics like "I believe that children
are the future" half-way believable do not a diva make. It
takes real class, a soulful set of pipes and the ability to wield
a melody with such skill that the music itself evokes not just
the emotion written into the theme, but also the brilliantly colored
emotions listeners never knew they had. And the diva will be able
to adjust the tints and hues at will, recreating a song each time
she sings it. Listening to Nnenna Freelon's 1999 release, Maiden
Voyage (Concord), the differences between dime-a-dozen singers
and true vocal artists become instantly--and crystal--clear.
Freelon began her meteoric rise to diva status in 1990 after jazz
patriarch Ellis Marsalis caught wind of her vocal abilities. The
chance meeting led to a deal with Columbia Records and her self-titled
debut in 1992. In the years that have followed, Freelon has twice
been nominated for a GRAMMY, won the Billie Holiday, Eubie Blake
and Soul Train Lady of Soul awards, and performed with Pat Metheny,
Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry, Dianne Reeves and other respected
jazz musicians. Recently, and most notably, Freelon joined T.S.
Monk's Monk on Monk album and tour in 1997, prompting critics
to laud her as "the greatest female vocalist to come along
in three decades."
On Maiden Voyage, Freelon explores the spirit of some of
the most passionate, powerful women songwriters of the day--from
Nina Simone to Laura Nyro. But her interpretations instantly transform
whatever she sings into something all her own. "Not all of
the women [represented on the record] are jazz singers,"
she says. "But because I'm a jazz singer, everything I do
is filtered through my own lens. So it really doesn't matter if
I do a Laura Nyro song or a Buffy Sainte-Marie song, because I'm
looking at the music through my own peculiar lens."
Peculiar as her lens may be, listening to Freelon croon her way
through the album's 12 tracks is like viewing life through rose-colored
glasses. Live, she generates enough musical electricity to light
a small city for days. Which is, in fact, exactly what she does.

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