Talk about a world view.
Vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant was born in Miami of French mother and Haitian father. At age 5, she started learning classical piano. At 8, she starting singing with the Miami Choral Society. In 2007, McLorin Salvant moved to Aix-en-Provence, France, where she not only studied classical and baroque voice at the Darius Milhaud Conservatory, but law as well.
There Jean-François Bonnel taught her about improvisation, and invited her to instrumental and was so impressed with her work that he invited her to record her first album, 2009's "Cécile," with his Jean-François Bonnel Paris Quintet. And in 2010, she returned to the States and won the Thelonious Monk competition in Washington D.C.
And it's been nothing but a steady climb since, including her 2014 Grammy nomination for best jazz vocal album for "WomanChild."
McLorin Salvant performs at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at the next installment of the Legends of Jazz Series at Onondaga Community College's Storer Auditorium. Tickets are $30 and are available at srcaren.acom.
“She sings clearly, with her full pitch range, from a pronounced low end to full and distinct high notes, used sparingly — like the one I heard a few weeks ago at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola on the last word of 'What a Little Moonlight Can Do,' the spire in a magnificent set. Her voice clamps into each song, performing careful variations on pitch, stretching words but generally not scatting; her face conveys meaning, representing sorrow or serenity like a silent-movie actor. She also presents a lot of jazz history, and other things ..." wrote Ben Ratliff in The New York Times.
McLorin Salvant is busy these days. She's got eight shows on the west coast leading up to her appearance in Syracuse, and her publicist apologized that he could not work a telephone interview into her schedule. However, he did email answers to questions she's been quizzed by the media in the past.
Asked about the reaction she gets to her unique approach to singing standards, which she does in English and French, by the way, McLorin Salvant says, "I am not sure. I work a lot with Aaron Diehl, who works on the arrangements, and we try to make something interesting happen. Also, from show to show, we try to have a variety in our interpretations. I typically look for songs that are lesser known, but also have a timeless quality, because I love to have people discuss forgotten gems."
Asked what music drew her in, and what singers and players she admires most, she says, "The music I fell in love with was what my mother listened to. She has a very eclectic taste, from frado to bluegrass to disco, Motown and funk. I just loved everything she played in the house. It's hard to list the musicians I admire without droning on. I would have to say in jazz my first loves were Sarah Vaughan and Thelonious Monk. Some others I fell in love with later were Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Billie Hoiday, Clifford Brown, Errol Gardner, Mercedes Sosa, Blossom Dearie, Shirley Horn, Lil Armstrong and Valaida Snow."
Asked how she wears the old songs on "WomanChild" so naturally, she says, "I've just been taking time to figure out what I can do, and how to find my own voice and personality all the while being enriched by the artists I love and admire that came before. I still have a lot of work to do!"