Will she continue along the path followed by great female vocalists like Holiday/Fitzgerald/Vaughan? Whoever hears the first bars of a song by
Cécile McLorin Salvant will easily get that idea. A voice with a distinct sound and breathtaking phrasing. Wynton Marsalis was equally enthusiastic about her and said: “She has authority, elegance, soul, humor, sensuality, power, virtuosity, a wide range, insight, intelligence, depth and grace.” All this can be heard on her latest album
WomanChild. The singer (1989) is the child of a French mother and a Haitian father. She grew up in Miami but left for Aix-en-Provence, France, in 2007. There, she studied law, classical singing and jazz. In 2009 she recorded her first album in Paris,
Cécile; one year later she won the Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington, D.C. Her interpretations of unknown and little-recorded jazz and blues songs are completely unique; she holds great promise for the future.
