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4.0 out of 5 stars
She's Not Sarah Vaughan, June 22, 2009
This review is from: Nnenna Freelon (Audio CD)
What's in a name? When Joe Montana stepped onto the football field, I KNEW he would be great - how could a guy named Montana not be? Which leads me to Chinyere Nnenna Freelon - what a name - just saying it, makes you sing - which is what Ms Freelon has been doing since she was a child. Early in her career, Ms Freelon was beat up by the critics for being a "Sarah Vaughan wannabe." That was unfair. Ms Vaughan had a one-in-a-billion voice; Ms Freelon on the other hand has a one-in-a-million voice - a warm, elegant, soprano with precise diction and phrasing.... She's not Sarah Vaughan, and my bet is that if you were to ask her, she'd say she never thought she was.
"Nnenna Freelon" was Ms Freelon's first album. Much of that "Sarah Vaughan stuff" was the result of the song selection and orchestration on this record - a set of standards like "Stella by Starlight," and "Skylark," with a full orchestra, including strings. It also includes a hair raising version of "Future News Blues," and a wonderful duet with drummer Grady Tate on "I Fall in Love Too Easily." So, although this album doesn't match up very well against Ms Freelon's dozen or so later records - which have garnered half a dozen Grammy nominations - it's not a bad record. Even on this first effort, Ms Freelon is a fully mature singer. Ms Freelon came to recording much later than most singers - she was almost 40 when she recorded "NF" - and while Columbia Records and the critics may not have known who she was, she certainly did. Had "Nnenna Freelon" been recorded ten years later, after "Maiden Voyage" and "Soulcall," I'll bet it would have gotten a very different reception. Be that as it may....
Bottom line: If you're unfamiliar with Ms Freelon, I suggest that you start with a couple of her Concord albums - or even "Heritage" or "Listen," the next two records she made for Columbia. And then some evening, when you're feelin' mellow and you have a glass of wine in your hand, put "NF" in your CD player. You'll be glad you did.
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