Heralded by NPR as one of the most distinctive singers and songwriters in jazz, Cécile McLorin Salvant is joining EJI in Montgomery for a Juneteenth concert on June 19 at 7:30 pm.
Get your ticketsBorn in 1989, Ms. McLorin Salvant grew up in a French-speaking household in Miami with a French mother who founded a bilingual French-English school in Miami and a Haitian father who is a doctor. While she found music from an early age, beginning piano lessons at four and joining a local choir at the age of eight, it was by chance that she happened to sign up for a jazz class—and found her calling.
When Ms. McLorin Salvant turned 18, she decided to try living in France. She enrolled at the Darius Milhaud Conservatory, where she studied music, and took political and law classes at the nearby Université Pierre-Mendès.
The New Yorker reported that it was Ms. McLorin Salvant’s mother, Léna McLorin Salvant, who saw a flyer advertising a jazz singing class when she was helping move her daughter in and who encouraged her to audition. Ms. McLorin Salvant auditioned with a song she knew from an album her mother had played. While Ms. McLorin Salvant was not convinced to join the class at the time of the audition, the teacher was immediately taken by her talent.
At the request of the teacher, Ms. McLorin Salvant enrolled in the jazz course. What started as acquiescing to the teacher’s request ended up jump-starting her career. The teacher helped Ms. McLorin Salvant build her jazz knowledge, introducing her to songs she came to love. Within a few months, her teacher built a band around her, enabling her to perform and compete.
By 2010, Ms. McLorin Salvant was performing around Europe. Later that year it was her mother who again saw an opportunity for her daughter’s artistry to grow—the annual Thelonious Monk competition, which The New Yorker reports is the closest thing the commercially modest jazz industry has to American Idol. Ms. McLorin Salvant ultimately won the jazz competition and secured interest from Ed Arrendell, a well-known talent manager.
Shortly after winning the jazz competition, Ms. McLorin Salvant moved to New York City. It was there that she officially launched her career in the U.S. When Ms. McLorin Salvant was just 23 years old, she released her debut album, which received a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Her following three albums won consecutive Grammys for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 2020, Ms. McLorin Slavant received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Often referred to as the “Genius Grant,” it recognized her exceptional creativity in the arts. She is also a recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Awards.
Today, The New York Times has placed Ms. McLorin Salvant alongside legendary vocalists such as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald. She is known for her eclectic approach to bending genres and often brings new life to old jazz and blues songs.
Ms. McLorin Salvant has performed at venues and festivals around the globe, including the Newport Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Village Vanguard, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall. As written by Spin magazine, “With three Grammys and a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Award to her name, Salvant has already far transcended her early status as her generation’s most imaginative and thrilling jazz interpreter.”
EJI is thrilled to welcome Ms. McLorin Salvant to Montgomery for an unforgettable night of jazz and celebration. Tickets are available here.