Search - Nnenna Freelon :: Soulcall

Through six albums, Nnenna Freelon has proven herself a versatile singer with exquisite taste, a sure sense of swing, and immaculate articulation and phrasing. Though originally compared to Sarah Vaughan, Freelon has carved her niche and developed her own style, no mean feat in the jazz-unfriendly 1990s. Like many contemporary jazz singers, Freelon doesn't stick to the jazz canon to make her point. Sure, she can sing and scat standards (like "Just in Time" here) all night long, but why stay there? While she cavorts through funk, pop, gospel, and jazz stylings on Soulcall, Freelon infuses it all--her singing, arrangements, and even weak choices of cover songs--with the kind of steel-willed direction, skill, and dedication that simply make anything she chooses to sing work like a charm. So a hoary chestnut like "Let It Be Me" becomes a beautiful love call; "Straighten Up and Fly Right" (with Take 6) and "Paper Moon" become sparkling, expansive, jazz gems. Freelon remakes every song in her own image, erasing Aretha from memory on "Say a Little Prayer for You" and turning "Amazing Grace" and "Nearer My God to Thee" into compelling personal declarations of faith. The title track bubbles over gentle bossa nova waves, Freelon's voice as sumptuous as sculpted honey, a beautiful instrument from a woman who fills every second with grace. --Ken Micallef