06/29/2007

Freelon & Basie: A treat for everybody

Nnenna Freelon joins Count Basie Orchestra at Interlochen

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS

mdrahos@record-eagle.com

Nnenna Freelon will perform with the Count Basie Orchestra Saturday at Interlochen's Kresge Auditorium.

INTERLOCHEN — Nnenna Freelon has sung with some of the greatest names in jazz, from Ray Charles and Ellis Marsalis to Al Jarreau and George Benson.

But few experiences can rival that of performing with the historic Count Basie Orchestra, many of whose members were hand-picked by Basie himself.

"When I go out with the Basie band it's a special treat for me, not only because of their musicianship but also because of the stories these guys tell,” said the six-time Grammy-Award-nominated jazz vocalist. "Some of these elders have been in the band for years and I don't think anyone has ever told their stories.”

Led by the legendary musician, bandleader and composer William "Count” Basie, the orchestra was a training ground and showcase for some of the greatest jazz musicians of the 1930s and early '40s. By the mid-'50s, it had become the backing big band for the finest jazz vocalists of the time. Theme songs and major hits included "One O'Clock Jump,” "April In Paris” and "Every Day I Have The Blues.”

Freelon and the present-day orchestra were brought together by trombonist and band alumnus Dennis Wilson to celebrate what would have been the 100th anniversary of Count Basie's birth in 2004. Now they're performing on a preview tour of their still-to-be-recorded album. On it, they'll tip a hat to the vocalists who have performed with the orchestra, including Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.

"What's really interesting and unique about this orchestra is whoever is graced with the opportunity to perform with them shines in a Basie-esque way,” noted Freelon, who adds her own stylings to songs like "Misty” and "They Can't Take That Away From Me.” "To stand in their shadow or to imitate them doesn't really bring honor to them or to you.”

The band will make a stop at Interlochen's Kresge Auditorium at 8 p.m. Saturday, led by long-time trombonist and Basie alum Bill Hughes, with drummer Butch Miles driving the rhythm section.

For Freelon, who cut her teeth performing with a trio, singing with a big band is an entirely different vocal experience.

"There's lots of color, lots of power and, in this band, a lot of swing,” she said. "It requires finding where you fit in.”

The same could be said of her early life. Raised in Cambridge, Mass., Freelon was often taken to cultural events and sang in church, at weddings and funerals, and in glee clubs, the chorus and talent shows at school.

"I always sang but never thought I could make a living at it,” she said.

In fact, after earning a degree in health care administration at Boston's all-women's Simmons College, she worked in the field for years before marrying and raising a family. It wasn't until her architect husband told her he wouldn't allow her to use her family situation as the pretext for her unfulfilled desires that she decided to "get off up my bed of excuses and go for” a singing career.

She'd been singing locally for seven years by the time a turning point came in the way of a chance meeting with Ellis Marsalis in 1990. Two years after giving him her press kit and a demo tape at a southern art federation jazz meeting, she was signed to Columbia Records, which had been looking for a female singer. She recorded her first album, "Nnenna Freelon,” in 1992.

"How my mother decided on this name is somewhat of a mystery,” she said, referring to the Nigerian origins of her name, pronounced "Nee-na.” "I have a brother named Melvin and a sister named Debbie.”

Now she's on the road most of the year, performing occasional benefit concerts in her hometown of Durham, N.C., for organizations close to her heart. Besides the six Grammy Award nominations, she has won the Billie Holiday Award from the Academie du Jazz and the Eubie Blake Award from the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute. She made her feature film debut as a nightclub singer in Mel Gibson's "What Women Want.”

She'll come to Interlochen direct from a Carnegie Hall concert honoring jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson.

Tickets are $39.50, $34.50 and $24.50 at (800) 681-5920, (231) 276-7800 or tickets.interlochen.org.