Beneath the Skin

Singer Nnenna Freelon has long shown she knows her way around the Great American Songbook (she's recorded tributes to Billie holiday and Stevie Wonder), but on her newly released 12th album, Beneath the Skin, the tunes, many of them poignant ballads, are all hers, with several celebrating women in many colors. On this straight-ahead acoustic affair—with an unusual instrumentation of cello, trombone and guitar plus piano trio—Freelon proves herself an astute songwriter with several of her songs entwining women's thoughts and feelings utilizing imagery from the natural world. "Widow Song" is a knockout: a new twist on carrying a dimming torch. She asks, "Must I wear this cloak of gray/and give myself to yesterday?" It's a song that would work in many contexts, and pianist Alan Pasqua and guitarist Keith Ganz work wonders here. Bassist Jonathan Richards and drummer Steve Hass are also major contributors throughout, adapting superbly to Freelon's curve balls. "Black Iris" (co-written with Pasqua) starts out with echoes of "afro Blue", but soon it goes in a different direction—celebrating an outstanding woman whose "petals are on display." Evan Roberson's trombone is valuable here, riffing under the pianist's solo and taking the tune out. "here's Your hat" is a straightforward kiss-off: "I can't miss you until you're gone." The trombonist has a nice, lengthy, wry solo. "Dark and Lovely" is pure swing, descended from the Gershwin's' "Lady Be Good", and Roberson gets a featured romp. The title tune showcases the singer backed by Ganz, who offers a multi-layered guitar solo. It's another song destined to remain in the memory, with its wonderful writing: "The forest testifies in shades of green/a mossy hymn that plays softly by a stream." "Last Dream home" (written with Andrew Bernison) is like a modern-day Brief Encounter (the 1945 British film), with its sad, long goodbye in a train station. It also has another fine Ganz solo. and then there's the album's cover of Stephen Foster's 1847 "Oh! Susanna", a minstrel song that was his first "hit." Freelon slows the tune way down, making it atmospheric, somewhat sorrowful; it's also interesting that the song was originally written from an African-American perspective (a fact that has unfortunately disappeared with time from the most commonly performed versions). Ultimately, Beneath the Skin is a very accomplished demonstration of veteran singer Nnenna Freelon's numerous, remarkable talents.