Cécile McLorin Salvant at The Adrienne Arsht Center

Cécile McLorin Salvant, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy Award winner, is a singer and composer bringing historical perspective, a renewed sense of drama and an enlightened musical understanding to jazz standards and her own compositions. Classically trained, steeped in jazz, blues and folk and drawing from musical theater and vaudeville, Salvant embraces a wide-ranging repertoire that broadens the possibilities for live performance.

The Miami native’s newest album, Ghost Song, features a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia and yearning. The New York Times said of the record, “The vocalist who dares to take on older music with unsavory history turns inward on ‘Ghost Song,’ her most revealing and rewarding album yet … Salvant has applied that daring-to-go-there ethic to something else: herself, writing music that looks within and doesn’t blink.” NPR raved, “[Salvant] marshals all of the musicians around her into this style that feels connected to old blues, and rhythm and blues, but also has this kind of very contemporary feeling … there’s something really fascinating happening on every track of this album.”

Salvant’s performances range from spare duets for voice and piano to instrumental trios and orchestral ensembles. Her unreleased work Ogresse is an ambitious, long-form song cycle based on oral fairy tales from the 19th century that explores the nature of freedom and desire in a racialized, patriarchal world. She has performed at international venues and festivals such as the Newport Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Village Vanguard and the Kennedy Center.

Opening for Salvant is emerging jazz force Christian Sands. His abundant piano technique perfectly matches his conception, accomplishing a deep musical goal: a fresh look at the language of jazz.