Cécile McLorin Salvant, the extraordinarily gifted new vocalist, released her first Mack Avenue title, Womanchild, hot on the heels of her win at the Thelonious Monk International Vocal Competition. And the buzz has only grown since then. “She radiates authority,” writes Ben Ratliff of The New York Times. Top that off with Wynton Marsalis, who says, "She has poise, elegance, soul, humor, sensuality, power, virtuosity, range, insight, intelligence, depth and grace.”
For Womanchild, McLorin Salvant drew on songs spanning three centuries of American music. “I like to choose songs that are a little unknown or have been recorded very few times,” McLorin Salvant notes. “While these songs aren’t recognized as standards, many should be because they are so beautifully crafted.”
On the album, her repertoire ranges from the 19th century ballad “John Henry,” refreshed in a spirited up‐to‐date arrangement, to McLorin Salvant’s own 21st century waltz “Le Front Caché Sur Tes Genoux” which draws on a poem by Haitian writer Ida Salomon Faubert for its lyric. She is joined by a world class band who share her concern for creating jazz of today by drawing on vibrant traditions of the past: pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Rodney Whitaker (both of whom are Mack Avenue label mates), guitarist James Chirillo and master drummer Herlin Riley.
The old and new rub shoulders throughout this album, but this singer’s attitude is neither beholden to the past nor trying to anticipate the trends of the future. Her captivating singing is immersed in the immediacy of the present moment. So much so, that those who have seen McLorin Salvant in concert marvel at how she radiates the confidence and poise of a mature artist even though she is just at the dawn of her own career.
McLorin Salvant may have the deepest roots of any singer of her generation. She knows the sounds and styles of modern jazz but also possesses complete command of the classic blues and early American vocal tradition. She has studied the entire recorded legacy of the great Bessie Smith (1894‐1937), often called the Empress of the Blues, and also has deep familiarity with Valaida Snow, Bert Williams and other early masters of American music. For her, these musicians are exponents of living traditions that she has drawn into the orbit of her own work.