Cecile Mclorin Salvant at Samueli Theater

“Cécile McLorin Salvant has the type of voice that could lead a singer to stop trying, and the fact that she hasn’t—that she’s only working and thinking harder—demonstrates just what a talent she really is.” —Los Angeles Times

To label Cécile McLorin Salvant as simply a Grammy-winning jazz vocalist is an injustice to this musical storyteller. Besides being a multiple Grammy winner, Salvant is a composer, a visual artist, and MacArthur Fellow whose trajectory has moved at warp speed. Since first winning the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010, Salvant has released five acclaimed albums, each one more daring than the previous. ...

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“Cécile McLorin Salvant has the type of voice that could lead a singer to stop trying, and the fact that she hasn’t—that she’s only working and thinking harder—demonstrates just what a talent she really is.” —Los Angeles Times

To label Cécile McLorin Salvant as simply a Grammy-winning jazz vocalist is an injustice to this musical storyteller. Besides being a multiple Grammy winner, Salvant is a composer, a visual artist, and MacArthur Fellow whose trajectory has moved at warp speed. Since first winning the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010, Salvant has released five acclaimed albums, each one more daring than the previous.

She has created her own distinct sound by combining her classically trained voice with elements of vaudeville, blues, theater, jazz, baroque music, and folk traditions from around the world. Bringing historical perspective, a renewed sense of drama, and an enlightened musical understanding to both jazz standards and her own original compositions, Salvant embraces a wide-ranging repertoire that broadens the possibilities for live performance.

This winter, Salvant appears on the Samueli Theater stage with Ghost Song, her debut album for Nonesuch Records, that received critical acclaim upon its release in March 2022. Ghost Song features a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia, and yearning, with The New York Times calling it, “her most revealing and rewarding record yet.”

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