Nnenna Freelon to Perform in Hilo

World-renowned jazz singer and six-time Grammy Award nominee Nnenna Freelon will perform at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo Performing Arts Center on Friday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 pm.

Freelon will appear with Miki Hayama on piano, Alfred Batchelor on upright bass, and Leon Joyce on drums.

Freelon has earned a reputation as a compelling and captivating live performer and has appeared recently in composer Laura Karpman’s undertaking of Langston Hughes’ “Ask Your Mama” at The Apollo Theater and The Hollywood Bowl, and in SRO-shows at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival with the Duke Ellington-inspired “Dreaming the Duke” with Harolyn Blackwell and pop-jazz crossover pianist Mike Garson.

Over the last decade Freelon received Grammy nominations for her feature film debut in “What Women Want” starring Mel Gibson, and she sang a remake of Frank Sinatra’s classic, “Fly Me To The Moon,” for “The Visit,” starring Billy Dee Williams.

Freelon twice has been nominated for the “Lady of Soul” Soul Train Award. She has performed and toured with Ray Charles, Ellis Marsalis, Al Jarreau and George Benson, among others.

Tickets are reserved seating: $25 general, $20 discount and $12 for UH-Hilo/HawCC students and children up to age 17. Call the UH-Hilo Box Office, 974-7310, or order online at artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu.