Join us for a memorable evening with Nnenna Freelon, 7-time GRAMMY-nominated jazz vocalist, as she shares insights from her upcoming memoir, Beneath the Skin of Sorrow: Improvisations on Loss. This event will also feature a special performance.
Dr. Maya Angelou once said of Nnenna Freelon, “The instrument that Ms. Freelon displays includes the audible…and the palpable, mighty wealth of soul.” That wealth of soul flows through Freelon’s debut book which is a heartfelt collection of stories, poems, and songs born from unimaginable loss and powerful renewal. In just six months, she lost her beloved husband, renowned architect Phil Freelon, her sister Debbie, and the family’s loyal dog, Basie. Grief could have silenced her, yet she chose the improvisational tools she learned as a jazz musician to help navigate her losses.
“I had to find my voice again,” Freelon says. “This time, it came through the lens of grief—but also through deep love, memory, and the desire to sojourn creatively with loss.”
Freelon has spent her nearly 40-year career moving audiences around the world. She’s also a producer, arranger, arts education advocate, and the award-winning host of the podcast Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon. This chapter of her life is about granting permission to be in a relationship with her broken heart. And it’s rooted in a desire to connect through shared humanity.
Improvisation, a cornerstone of jazz music, became not just a musical idea, but a life practice. Freelon leaned into uncertainty, made space for sorrow, and used creativity as a tool for survival. Beneath the Skin of Sorrow is the book she wishes she had during the earliest days of grief. It’s also a love letter—to Phil, to her sister and to anyone learning to live with loss.
As Dr. Angelou also wrote, “the durable beauty of her (Nnenna’s) voice makes the listener remember having heard such transparent talent.” That voice now shines not just in music—but in prose, poetry, and truth.
Beneath the Skin of Sorrow will be released on October 21, 2025.
RSVP now: https://go.unc.edu/nnennafreelon