Cécile McLorin Salvant

Born in Miami to a Haitian father and a French mother in 1989, Cécile McLorin Salvant is a decorated jazz singer who combines immense individual talent with a thoughtful interrogation of the music she loves. Inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Salvant drifted to jazz in 2007 while studying law in France. Three years later, she released her debut album, Cécile & the Jean-François Bonnel Paris Quintet, and won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for singers. She quickly established herself as a generations-bridging singer with impeccable technique, snagging Grammy awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2016 (For One to Love), in 2018 (Dreams and Daggers), and again in 2019 (The Window), as well as a MacArthur “Genius Grant" in 2020. While Salvant's clear voice, full range, and nuanced phrasing extract new readings from problematic chestnuts like Burt Bacharach's "Wives and Lovers," it's her original compositions, such as the richly personal title track of 2022's Ghost Song, that cement this star's stature as a witty, and gracefully wondering, American original.