Search - Nnenna Freelon :: Heritage

David N. (ilikeallmusic) from GADSDEN, AL
Reviewed on 7/2/2015...

Just finished listening to this. This sounds real nice, jazz vocal. The sound is very clear and the songs are arranged well. 1 Hr 10 min gives you plenty to listen to. I got this after reading the review on All Music Guide - Rated 4.5 out of 5.0!! - David N

Barb F. from SAINT LOUIS, MO
Reviewed on 1/6/2008...

Great vocal - cool sound

I Guess I Do Have Room for One More Femal Vocalist. . . .

ROGER L. FOREMAN | Bath, Maine | 12/06/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have seen Ms. Freelon's work on store shelves and in my music clubs, but I have resisted buying based on the following principle: if I like her work, then I'll have yet another artist to pursue with my obsessive-compulsive buying habits, and I just can't afford it financially. After hearing her perform "Straighten Up and Fly Right" with Take 6 at this past year's Grammy Awards I decided that I did have room after all. SOULCALL, the album from which that song was taken, is on my Christmas List (Santa had better read carefully), but I decided to buy a couple of cheap, used titles in the meanwhile. Man, does she bring a lot to the table. I am still amazed that Diana Krall is selling so many titles when an artist with so much more to offer, like Nnenna Freelon, just doesn't. . . . Her style is energetic and passionate. Her diction and vocal stylings are very unique. That's what I'm looking for---not just cookie-cutter lounge vocals. The music reflects the cover photo: alluring, sensual, subtle. . . . She sings in a way that other female artists don't--she is bringing something new to the table. No songs on this CD are "blow your mind" good, but they show an incredible amount of potential. I am eagerly awaiting hearing the entirety of SOULCALL and her other more recent CDs. In the meantime, I'll be quite happy listening to HERITAGE."

Keeping It Alive

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 12/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is, for me, the most satisfying of the albums I've heard by Nnenna (apparently that overmatched "e" in her first name matches the sound in "free"). It's less adventurous but more consistent than "Shakin' Free" and less programmed but more soul-stirring than "Soul Call."



I don't pick up on the sensual, kittenish qualities other reviewers have referred to. To my ears the quality of the voice is androgynous and playful, the timbre so clear and compelling, the placement so forward and present that you can't help but trust every word. In fact, the apparent lack of sophistication makes her an especially effective reader and communicator of a sophisticated Strayhorn piece like "Something to Live For." Same with "Prelude to a Kiss," a Dukish chromatic fantasia than many performers exploit with a kind of self-referential, forced hipness. Hearing Nenna singing it so direct and sincere is a bit like rediscovering the song for the first time.



On the other hand, the absence of guile enables her to make the title song, inspired by Duke's deeply felt remembrances of his own mother, an experience that is at once personally touching and universal. Kenny Barron's accompaniment is exquisite throughout, and the two horn players are used resourcefully. The Maestro himself would no doubt have enjoyed this one."