Nnenna Freelon Gets Live

“I’d like an ‘N,’ Mr. Sajak.”

Fans waiting for some more material from the sassy, honey-voiced jazz vocalist Nnenna “The N” Freelon needn’t wait any longer. The five-time Grammy nominee is set to unleash her first ever live album, the aptly titled Live, for Concord Records on Tuesday, October 7.

For those of you who have burned a hole through your copies of Soulcall and last year’s Stevie Wonder tribute, Tales of Wonder, the live album will serve as a worthy replacement. The album, recorded at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., transcends typical live album fare, managing to capture the spirit and energy of a Freelon live performance, accentuating her original phrasing and soulful sky-scraping vocal range

Look no further than her playful interpretation of the Wizard of Oz‘s “If I Only Had a Brain” or the dark “Meaning of the Blues.” And it wouldn’t be a Nnenna Freelon affair without an homage to Sarah Vaughan, and she does her hero justice on “Nothing Will Be as It Was.” She really swings, engaging the audience at every turn.

Here’s the tracklisting for Live:

1. Nothing Will Be As It Was

2. All Or Nothing At All

3. If I Only Had a Brain (intro)

4. If I Only Had a Brain

5. Meaning of the Blues

6. Body & Soul

7. My Cherie Amour (Intro)

8. My Cherie Amour

9. The Tears of a Clown

10. Button Up Your Overcoat

11. If I Had You

12. Circle Song

For more information on “The N” visit www.nnenna.com.

Originally Published October 8, 2003