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Big Band Christmas Show With Nnenna Freelon And John Brown

WUNC | By Anita Rao,

Frank Stasio

Published December 5, 2014 at 12:17 PM EST

Jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon and bassist John Brown bring their big band Christmas show back to the Triangle this year.

Jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon and bassist John Brown bring their big band Christmas show back to the Triangle this year.

Host Frank Stasio talks to artists Nnenna Freelon and John Brown about their show and they perform live in studio joined by Kevin Van Sant on guitar.

Grammy nominated jazz vocalistNnennaFreelonand bassist John Brown bring their big band Christmas tunes back to the stage at Durham’s Carolina Theatrethis Sunday, December 7.The artists first started playing Christmas music together while recording their 2012 album Christmas, but they have continued to find new ways to put a jazzy spin on classic tunes. Freelon, Brown and guitarist Kevin Van Sant performed these songs live in the WUNC studios: Watch a video of Nnenna Freelon performing at the Grammy's:

Copyright 2014 North Carolina Public Radio

Anita Rao

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.

See stories by Anita Rao

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio