Once described by Pitchfork as 'the leader of a pack of fully modern jazz singers,' Cecile McLorin Salvant is known for pushing the boundaries of the jazz form, incorporating elements of vaudeville, blues, folk, baroque, and theatre into her art. A three-time Grammy winner and, in 2020, recipient of the presitigious MacArthur 'genius' fellowship, Salvant has also been recognised by her musical peers as a rare talent: in the words of Wynton Marsalis, 'you get a singer like this once in a generation or two.'
'She sings standards, show tunes and old novelties in a taut, elusively beautiful voice, erring toward material with difficult lyrics and tough places in history.'
New York Times
Born in Miami to a French mother and Haitian father, Salvant won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition at just 21. The release of her 2013 album WomanChild was a breakthrough moment, and she followed this up two years later with For One to Love, her first Grammy winner, which featured a typically eclectic song selection: compositions by Burt Bacharach, Noel Coward, and Rogers and Hammerstein sat alongside Salvant's own originals in a mix described by the Guadian as 'like heightened music theatre.' 2018's The Window, a piano/vocal duo album with Sullivan Fortner, took in French cabaret, American showtunes, pop standards, and deep soul; Ghost Song (2022) focused largely on Salvant's striking compositions, and her latest album Melusine, sung mostly in French, is a concept album written around the story of Melusine, a female water spirit of European folkloric legend.
With Ogresse, a self-penned theatrical musical fable that is currently being developed into an animated feature-length film, Salvant provided further proof that her art knows few boundaries: her recording and performance projects to date have encompassed an astonishing range of musical idioms and historical periods, and she continues to confound and inspire with each step forward.
Line-up
Cécile McLorin Salvant – vocals
