You never know what talents will show up in small towns. On a Friday night in 1993, the Beaufort County Arts Council sponsored a Valentine event. It was an intimate evening featuring the sweet, sweet voice of Nnenna Freelon. She performed in the town’s Civic Center, an old Seaboard Coastline railroad freight station converted for local gatherings.

Freelon has lived in Durham, NC since the late 1970s. She has been nominated for five Grammy Awards in jazz vocal divisions. I remember rushing in the midst of the stuffed high school Friday night football coverage to shoot a few photos. I was so impressed that I rushed back to the darkroom that night, printed a couple of 8X10s and took them to the local Holiday Inn where I found her having a very late dinner with her 10-year-old son. I gave her a package and begged an autograph on one for myself.

Since singing in the refurbished freight station, she has performed in the Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, and the Monterey and Montreux  Jazz Festivals. Click here to see the Little Washington appearance.