Following her double GRAMMY® nominated Soulcall, vocalist Nnenna Freelon has returned to the recording studio to honor one of music's greatest composers, arrangers and performers-Stevie Wonder. Freelon has expressed her admiration for Wonder's music by recording his songs on her previous albums. With her highly anticipated new Concord release, Tales of Wonder, (due out June 11th), Freelon puts her own inimitable stamp on this legendary music, taking listeners on a journey of the heart, the way Soulcall took fans on a journey of the soul. The CD is also the first vocal album ever done as a tribute to Wonder.

Known for her innovative interpretations, Freelon explores the depth of Wonder's classic compositions with the prodigious vocal talent and eclectic style for which she is known. "I wanted to reinterpret the music we grew up with, and chose material that was in my bones," says Freelon. "Stevie's music is art. He has a way of writing so deeply. It takes the improvisational soul to look at these tunes in a different way-jazz allows us to do that," Freelon explains.

Celebrating her tenth year as a recording artist, it is clear that Freelon's star is definitely on the rise. Following the stunning performance that earned her a rousing standing ovation on the 43rd Annual GRAMMY® Awards, Freelon made her feature film debut in the Mel Gibson hit, What Women Want, and did a poignant remake of Sinatra's classic "Fly Me to the Moon" for The Visit starring Billy Dee Williams. Additionally she appeared in command performances for the legendary Julie Andrews at the Society of Singers "Ella Awards," and the Steven Sondheim Tribute at Carnegie Hall. She is a winner of both the Billie Holiday Award from the prestigious Academic Du Jazz and the Eubie Blake Award, and was nominated twice for the "Lady of Soul" Soul Train Award.

From 'Superstition' with its surprisingly deep lyric to 'Send One Your Love,' a celebration of pure romance, these songs take us back and lead us forward at the same time. Stevie Wonderıs music has been alive in me since I can remember and has accompanied my joys and heartache. These songs fill me to the brim and as I sing them now, my cup runneth over."   - Nnenna Freelon

Nominated for five GRAMMY® Awards, her last release Soulcall, which she also produced, earned Freelon her fourth and fifth GRAMMY® nominations for "Best Jazz Vocal Performance" and "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal." Her two previous Concord releases Maiden Voyage and Shaking Free also earned GRAMMY® nominations, with the latter clinching a top slot on the Billboard charts. Additionally, she has performed and toured with such top artists as Ray Charles, Ellis Marsalis, Al Jarreau, Dianne Reeves, The T. S. Monk tentet and more.

Not content merely with the accolades of success, Freelon reaches out regularly to children worldwide though her educational activities and residencies in her role as National Spokesperson for Partners in Education, an organization with over 400,000 school/community partnership programs across the United States, dedicated to the improvement of the quality of American education by supporting arts education programs.

Freelon clearly recalls the moment when her passion for music took firm root. She was seven, and sang "Amazing Grace," her first solo performance, in Cambridge, MA. "I remember being petrified," she admits. "It's one thing to be singing with a bunch of your buddies-and something else to be on your own, singing to the congregation. But when I saw the smiles, and heard the clapping and 'Amens!' I said, 'I want more of that!'" she grins. "It was the beginning of nurturing my talent, of getting a sense of myself."

With the release of Tales of Wonder, it is clear Freelon is a versatile performer who has evolved and come in to her own voice. "This music is a part of who I am."