Cécile McLorin Salvant Sextet
with Sullivan Fortner, Marvin Sewell,
Alexa Tarantino, Yasushi Nakamura, Keita Ogawa
Cécile McLorin Salvant won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition at the age of 21 (2010). She had just released her debut album, with a music background in the USA and at the Conservatory “Darius Milhaud” in Aix-en-Provence, where her French mother sent her to improve her classical and baroque vocal style. Usually, whoever wins that competition is supposed to have a great career. Since then, Cécile has won many awards (including three Grammys for three consecutive years), released excellent albums, and received plenty of esteem from anywhere: Wynton Marsalis, whose orchestra Cécile was a guest, told the New Yorker that a singer like her comes around once every one or two generations. Her music as a vocalist and composer merges sounds that pass through several ages and cultures, spreading among vaudeville, jazz, blues, storytelling. An outstanding vocal technique is combined with a confident stage presence to draw the identikit picture of an all-round artist.
Cécile has already performed at Umbria Jazz. Last time, she performed with Sullivan Fortner, a New Orleans pianist, who is also part of this sextet.
