Cécile McLorin Salvant is a Haitian French American jazz singer, composer, and visual artist from Miami, who excels in many dimensions. She is a polymath genius who draws from every part of her multicultural heritage. She often sounds like a French Jazz Age singer, but is perfectly comfortable singing with an African drum. The combination of her powerful intellect and natural voice and makes Salvant an exceptional storyteller. Her albums are leaning in the direction of jazz opera.
The Thelonius Monk International Jazz Competition winner and three-time “Best Jazz Vocal Album” Grammy winner is one of the great jazz singers of her generation.
Cécile McLorin Salvant in New York City
92nd Street Y
Haitian French American jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant plays Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y in the Upper East Side; on Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 7:30pm. From $40. 92ny.org 🇭🇹 🇫🇷
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Cécile McLorin Salvant was born in Miami, Florida in 1989. While earning a bachelor’s degree in French law in the French college town Aix-en-Provence,, she also studied baroque music and jazz at the Darius Milhaud Music Conservatory.
After releasing her first album “Cécile & the Jean-François Bonnel Paris Quintet in 2010, she won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for vocalists. That really launched her singing career.
“WomanChild” (2014) was named “Top Vocal Album” by NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll, and nominated for the “Best Vocal Jazz Album” Grammy.
Salvant won Grammys for three albums in a row.
- “For One to Love” (2016) won the Grammy for “Best Jazz Vocal Album.”
- “Dreams and Daggers” (2018) won the Grammy for “Best Jazz Vocal Album.”
- “The Window” (2019) won the Grammy for “Best Jazz Vocal Album.”
“Ghost Song” was her 2022 album.
“Mélusine” (2023) is a concept album based on fairy tales about a mermaid in French folklore, a woman whose lower body turns into a snake on Saturdays. She describes the story as a metaphor for being multicultural. That’s an elegant metaphor because both sides of your heritage think the other side is a bit strange. There’s a Caribbean connection to the Haitian Ayida-Wedo / La Sirene / Mami Wata, or the Cuban Yoruba Yemayá / Oshún. They represent the Great Mother or female aspect of the divine. Ayida-Wedo literally manifests as a snake of both water and land. Humans do similar things around the world and across time ~ because we are human. Salvant sings in French, Haitian Kreyòl, English, and Occitan, an old romance language of southern France and northern Spain. The album was nominated for “Best Jazz Vocal Album” and “Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals” Grammys.
Salvant is a 2020 MacArthur Genius Grant winner. She is represented as a visual artist by Picture Room, a private gallery in Brooklyn. pictureroom.shop
Cécile McLorin Salvant is one artist who you can’t wait to see what they do next ~ because she has the whole world in her hands.
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