Jazz Appreciation Month concludes with International Jazz Day on Tuesday, April 30th and the global release of Woman Child by the trans-national singing sensation, Cécile McLorin Salvant on April 29th. “Woman Child” truly is a cause for celebration.
With wisdom well beyond her 23 years, Ms. Salvant has absorbed the repertoire and stylistic nuances of greats Abbey Lincoln, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Valaida Snow and Bessie Smith to arrive at her own definition of jazz vocalese. Confidence, poise, purpose and uncompromised integrity come together in Ms. Salvant’s stage presence and vocal technique. She is not afraid to sing classically with a full, open throat and avec la bouche ouvert - with the mouth wide open - to take in life with French zest. That attitude makes perfect sense for Cécile McLorin Salvant. Her formative vocal studies were in Aix-en-Provence. Although she was born in Miami, Florida her mother is French and Guadeloupian while her father is from Haiti. Cécile McLorin Salvant’s repertoire reflects a deep appreciation of Pan-African culture, women of wisdom and the honesty of the blues. It was our pleasure to premiere Woman Child by Cécile McLorin Salvant on Detroit’s Mack Avenue Records during Jazz Appreciation Month on the birthday of another iconic vocalist, Ella Fitzgerald.
