Nnenna Freelon is one of the top jazz female vocalists performing today. She is a six time Grammy nominee who will be the featured vocalist with the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Band which performs at the Atlanta Symphony Hall on February eighth at the Woodruff Arts Center. The Band members will be Terence Blanchard on trumpet, James Moody on saxophone, Benny Green on piano, Derrick Hodge on bass, Kendrick Scott on drums and Ms. Freelon on vocals. The stage will be set to showcase the American classical music, jazz, featuring old and young masters representing a fifty year tradition known as the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Speaking with Ms. Freelon by phone I was able to ask her about the upcoming performance and tour, how she came to work with one of Atlanta’s favorite artists and what she thinks of the future of jazz.
AJI: What is it like being a part of the MJF tradition and this tour?
NF: I have a long history with the festival, I first performed there in the ‘90s and I’ve been involved in their educational arm as well. It’s an intergenerational tour and fifty-four cities is unprecedented for this kind of tour in jazz or any other kind of music. It’s amazing, you can imagine, traveling across the United States by bus you become some what of a family and learn things about each other musically on and off the bandstand. It’s a real honor for me to be chosen to represent the festival in this way. It’s a well known brand in some places but not all. We come under the umbrella of great festivals with tradition which makes me want to step up to the plate and really be equal to the trust to carry on that banner. It’s a wonderful feeling.
AJI: Terence Blanchard was the 2007 MJF Artist in Residence and is the band leader. He’s been tasked with creating new music for this band. What is that process like?
NF: Everybody has a hand in the writing. Benny Green (p) does a tune in the show that he wrote and we do a tune that I wrote the lyrics to and Gerald Wilson wrote the music to. Terence wrote a couple pieces and then we do some standards too.
AJI: Everyone is so talented, I’m glad to hear that everyone has input. I’ve actually heard Kendrick Scott in an informal setting and he’s very creative.
NF: Kendrick Scott is special. He is also a writer with one of the compositions in the show. It’s rare to find a drummer who’s a lyrical player and he definitely fits the bill.
AJI: Do you have a favorite composition?
NF: Not really, it’s a show. Every thing fits together like the pieces of a puzzle and we switch it up from night to night depending on the feeling.
AJI: Will we get to hear a rendition of “Moody’s Mood for Love”?
NF: I’m not supposed to divulge that information, you just have to come and see.
AJI: In 2000 you released your twice Grammy nominated CD “Soulcall.” You worked with an Atlanta favorite, Ms. Takana Miyomoto. How did the two of you come to collaborate?
NF: We met through a friend and she sent me a demo recording and it was “killing”! I loved her music even before I met her. I have the greatest respect for her.
AJI: I was recently able to see Stevie Wonder perform live for the first time at Phillips Arena and it was the most incredible concert that I’ve ever experienced. Your 2002 release “Tales of Wonder” is a tribute to the music of Stevie Wonder. How has he influenced you?
NF: He’s a “Phenom!” He’s still out there doing his thing and creating on all levels musically and lyrically. He’s an amazing human being who writes sort of a soundtrack for a generation. To have some one who has had a forty year plus career and is still relevant is truly special.
AJI: I saw a picture on your website of you and Kurt Elling together. Do you and Kurt have plans to work together in the future?
NF: We’ll have to see. We’re on the same label now, I’d say the chances are really good that something might come up? I love Kurt’s voice.
AJI: What do you think of today’s popular music from a jazz perspective?
NF: When I was growing up, you’d turn on the radio and hear James Taylor and James Brown all on the same station. That’s no longer the case. People appear to be fixated on the “new” music. There was a time when this (jazz) music was “the new music”, it is no longer that. The fact that we are still pushing the boundaries is a testament of the quality and enduring nature of it. I don’t know how much “new” music will be talked about in the next ten years or so.
I like to listen to music whether or not I like it or whether I think I’ll like it or if somebody else has given an opinion about how it sounds. I want to be able to make my own choice as to if I dig it or not. We can’t take that for granted. I just played Poland in Warsaw at one of the nicest venues in that country and people were coming up to us afterwards, crying real tears, saying things like this music was suppressed for so many years that we couldn’t hear it. People had to get “black market tapes” smuggled from person to person out of basements. Some people in America have lost sight of the impact of jazz world wide. In some places people went to jail for listening to subversive Western music, it’s more than just, “hey, I like this beat.” We critique music on whether we think the person is reaching for it or if they can sing or whatever but it’s deeper than that for some folk.
AJI: I’m really looking forward to this performance on the Atlanta Symphony Hall stage.
NF: We’ve been playing in halls where the normal venue is dance, theater or classical music, acoustically all of the performances have been on an extremely high level. We’re traveling with our own sound and light technicians and the show is first class. Jazz can be showcased in rooms from the hole in the wall to the nicest halls because this is America’s music.
AJI: I’m really looking forward to this performance on the Atlanta Symphony Hall stage.
NF: We’ve been playing in halls where the normal venue is dance, theater or classical music, acoustically all of the performances have been on an extremely high level. We’re traveling with our own sound and light technicians and the show is first class. Jazz can be showcased in rooms from the hole in the wall to the nicest halls because this is America’s music.
Ms. Freelon left me with the impression as not only being a regal Jazz Diva but also a beautiful human being. After the performance, I think Atlanta will surely agree.
Nnenna Freelon was interviewed by Phil Roberts for AtlantaJazz.Info