Preview | Nnenna Freelon
Preview: 2/27/2025 | 30sVideo has Closed Captions
The incomparable jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon shares selections from her latest album.
Jazz legend Nnenna Freelon has seven Grammy nominations and has performed in the most prestigious venues on the planet. But for the first time in her 40-year career, she’s releasing an album of original songs. In this episode, she performs her new material and discusses how experimenting with music besides jazz standards allowed her to get “underneath the skin.”
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Shaped by Sound is a local public television program presented by PBS NC
Made possible through support from Come Hear NC, a program of the N.C. Music Office within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Preview | Nnenna Freelon
Preview: 2/27/2025 | 30sVideo has Closed Captions
Jazz legend Nnenna Freelon has seven Grammy nominations and has performed in the most prestigious venues on the planet. But for the first time in her 40-year career, she’s releasing an album of original songs. In this episode, she performs her new material and discusses how experimenting with music besides jazz standards allowed her to get “underneath the skin.”
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] Coming up on "Shaped by Sound".
- I just wanted to sing.
I found there were people in the community who could teach me, who could mentor me.
♪ Here's your hat ♪ ♪ Here's your hat ♪ ♪ Here's your hat ♪ ♪ Here's your hat ♪ ♪ Here's your hat ♪ ♪ Here's your hat ♪ ♪ Here's your hat ♪ - [Narrator] Join us Thursdays for new episodes of "Shaped by Sound".
Nnenna Freelon: “Beneath the Skin”
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Clip: 2/27/2025 | 3m 39s | Nnenna Freelon’s song “Beneath the Skin” explores the emotions beneath joy and pain. (3m 39s)
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Clip: 2/27/2025 | 4m 39s | Nnenna Freelon performs “Black Iris,” which was inspired by the rare flower’s unique blossoming. (4m 39s)
Nnenna Freelon: “Dark & Lovely”
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Clip: 2/27/2025 | 3m 35s | Nnenna Freelon performs “Dark & Lovely,” a song dedicated to her young granddaughters. (3m 35s)
Nnenna Freelon: “Here’s Your Hat”
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Clip: 2/27/2025 | 5m 28s | Nnenna Freelon’s “Here’s Your Hat,” a song about letting go of those who no longer serve you well. (5m 28s)
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Clip: 2/27/2025 | 7m 55s | Nnenna Freelon performs her soulful reinvention of the well-known folk song “Oh! Susanna.” (7m 55s)
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Clip: 2/27/2025 | 4m 33s | Nnenna Freelon’s “Widow Song” delves into the societal labels that accompany grief. (4m 33s)
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Shaped by Sound is a local public television program presented by PBS NC
Made possible through support from Come Hear NC, a program of the N.C. Music Office within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.