JAZZ REVIEW : Break Out the Superlatives for Singer Nnenna Freelon

The performance by Nnenna Freelon Tuesday at Catalina Bar & Grill confirmed what some observers have suspected: Here is a singer who need not be heralded as the next Sarah or the next anyone. She is simply the now Nnenna, for whom comparisons are no longer necessary.

Tall and slender, with an ingratiating smile and a left hand that moves as if it were her musical director, Freelon has her own personality, whether applied to a standard (“I Didn’t Know What Time It Was”), an original (her own “Future News Blues”) or a wordless interlude delivered in a style unlike any other scat singer’s--consisting largely of vowels and “w” sounds.

Freelon, who has spent most of her adult years raising three children in Durham, N.C., is a late arrival in the big time, but at this point she seems equipped to become an eminent female jazz vocalist. She was capably backed by the Anthony Wonsey Trio.

Sharing the bill through Sunday is guitarist Russell Malone. A self-taught musician with a phenomenal technique, he displayed his powerhouse chops on an old Kenny Dorham tune, “This I Dig of You.” He was also at ease in the relaxing mood of such ballads as “Cabin in the Sky.”

Malone, who turned 30 on Monday, has developed impressively as a composer. A fine example of his writing is “With Kenny in Mind,” dedicated to fellow guitarist Kenny Burrell.