Nnenna Freelon, a jazz vocalist, composer, actress and playwright was nominated for a Grammy Award with her son Pierce for their 2023 album, “AnceStars,” written to celebrate their ancestors. The nomination is in the Best Children’s Music Album category. 

The Grammy Awards are presented by the Recording Academy of the United States, and its purpose is to “recognize excellence in the recording arts and sciences, cultivate the well-being of the music community, and ensure that music remains an indelible part of our culture.” Nnenna has been nominated for a Grammy seven times but has never won, receiving her first nomination in the 90s for “Best Jazz Vocal Performance.”

Nnenna said the music is not about the awards, but about the journey.

“It’s like you’re on a train,” Nnenna said. “When you make your commitment to your art, you have your ticket and you board. You get off at a certain stop that says Grammy nomination, great, but you get back on the train.” 

She said she is a musician because it is what she loves, regardless of the recognition. 

“I really do believe that everything that you receive was meant for you,” she said. “Is a Grammy on its way to me? Great, bring it on. And if not, I have a full, fat life that I love, and I get to work with my kids, I get to travel around the world, I get to meet people, I get to make friends out of strangers through my art.”

The album is about the ancestors who have passed and is a way to celebrate them. Her husband, Phil, died in 2019 from Lou Gehrig’s disease, and the album is a way to celebrate his life and others who have influenced her and Pierce.

Nnenna said music has the power to be a salve for the wounded heart. It allows people to be in an emotional and intuitive space that can be healing. During the production of the album, Phil was in the Freelons’ thoughts.

“I have a belief that people want to be remembered,” she said. “They want to be acknowledged and want their names to be said. And so in song, Pierce and I were able to memorialize and remember with joyful and bittersweet moments. We were able to celebrate his life.”

Pierce said writing songs for the album was therapeutic because it helped him process thoughts and feelings that otherwise might have been unexpressed. 

“It was great before any of the recognition, before anyone listened to it,” he said. “Just for me personally and for my relationship with my ancestors, it was like, ‘love you guys.’ It’s a nice thing to be able to say to people who poured into you and are no longer here.”

Nnenna said the album took them roughly nine months to finish. Pierce said he and his mother were both inspired by Phil, so it made sense to come together as a duo and create an album.

Nnenna said working with Pierce was “fabulous” and that she learned a lot from him. She said their relationship with music is different because she is more acoustic sounding, while he is more invested in hip-hop and beats. Pierce described his music style as a mix of Afrofuturism, hip-hop, jazz and soul influence, with a focus on positivity, creativity and Blackness.

“Not everyone gets the opportunity to collaborate on something big with their adult children or their parents,” Pierce said. “It’s like LeBron James and Bronny hooping on the same team. That’s kind of cool and unusual.”

Nnenna said she and Pierce are considering doing another project in the children’s music space in the future.

“Kids are super sophisticated, way more than we think, and they deserve high-quality stuff that respects their little minds,” she said. 

Pierce has written two children’s books in addition to “AnceStars,” and has been working on “Jamming on the Job” since 2021, a PBS kids podcast that introduces kids to different career paths. He began to create content for children after he became a parent in 2008. He has two children, a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. 

“That inspired me to make something that my kids could listen to and enjoy and learn from, but was also really dope music by my standards as a parent,” he said. “It created a co-listening experience that we could all enjoy.”

Nnenna and Pierce credit parts of their musical talents to the artistic community of Durham, North Carolina, where they both reside and where Pierce grew up. 

“Durham is the cultural nucleus of the state of North Carolina,” Pierce said. “There are so many dope artists who come out of Durham or through Durham. It’s like the heartbeat of our state.” 

Pierce said he felt nurtured growing up in the diverse community of hip-hop artists and jazz musicians and that Durham has a long history of Black excellence, which is a big part of the “overall dopeness” of Durham. 

Nnenna said she found mentors in Durham who supported her when she was starting as a musician, such as Yusuf Salim and Ellis Marsalis Jr. She grew up around music from singing for her church choir but thought she would go into hospital administration after graduating from Simmons University in Boston. She said that as she grew older, she was still drawn to music. 

“The music called me,” she said. “It made itself irresistible, is all I can say. I knew I loved it and knew that the musical landscape was something that seemed magical.”

Upon completion of “AnceStars,” Nnenna recorded her debut solo album of 11 original songs, “Beneath the Skin,” which will be released in March 2025. Meanwhile, Pierce and his wife Kathryn opened a new vegan space ice cream company this year, called COCO FRO.

Whether or not the Freelons collaborate on an album again, “AnceStars” highlights how music can contribute to personal healing and growth.

“Music can be used to heal the planet,” Nnenna said. “Let’s use it that way.”

Edited by Kellie Finch and Kaitlyn Church