Nnenna Freelon October 11, 2005

Recipient of the Billie Holiday Award from the Académie du Jazz and multiple Grammy-Award nominations, there is conceivably no artist better suited to honor the living legacy of Billie Holiday than the always creative, always vivacious Nnenna Freelon. Her new Concord CD, Blueprint of a Lady - Sketches of Billie Holiday, contains songs associated with Billie Holiday as a basic musical blueprint and point of departure. Freelon creates passionate musical sketches that are colorful, uniquely personal, and fully in the present moment, making each song uniquely her own. Underscoring the truth that Lady Day's musical legacy is every bit as relevant today as it ever was, Nnenna's inspired homage at once honors without imitating, and looks back respectfully while propelling the music forward with unbridled creativity. The uncompromising and innovative Billie Holiday would have wanted it that way.