Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Six-time Grammy nominated-jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon played to an intimate audience in Atlanta Sunday afternoon as part of The National Black Arts Festival’s October Events. The songstress, who has worked with everyone in the music industry from Aretha Franklin to the late Ray Charles to Herbie Hancock, performed almost two hours worth of jazz classics.
“They are the bible of this music. Those tunes are the popular music of a certain time and what the jazz artists did was to take those songs and interpret them. That is what they did. When Miles Davis got his hands on ‘My Funny Valentine,’ it became a new thing,” said Freelon to RivaBlue. “When Carmen McRae took any standard that she sung, you knew it was her. So that’s what this equal opportunity jazz music does. It allows you that creative freedom to tell your own story through the song. It is very, very important.”
Freelon also shared a quote that her grandmother told her at a pivotal time in her career. She hoped it would inspire someone in the audience as it did her many years ago. “A lot of times we have excuses for why we are not doing what God has purposed for us. I was making excuses for why I couldn’t pursue this dream and was complaining to her when she said to me, ‘Bloom where you’re planted. God can deal with you and with what you know and what you don’t know.’ And that has proven to be very true in my life.”
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