Growing up in Miami in a Haitian-French household, Cécile McLorin Salvant’s musical exposure spanned continents and cultures: Haitian and Caribbean music, folk music from South and North America, R&B and hip-hop, jazz and the blues. She breathed it all in and then, together with formal training in opera and classical singing, translated it into a similarly global career as a singer.
Along the way she won three Grammy Awards as well as a MacArthur Fellowship, otherwise known as a Genius Grant, in 2020.
McLorin Salvant’s new album, “With Every Breath I Take,” to be released June 26, marks another first in her career — recording with a full orchestra, the Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest. It includes mostly well-known standards like “Lush Life” and “Sophisticated Lady” along with one original composition, “Left Over,” with arrangements by Darcy James Argue.
CITY caught up with McLorin Salvant via email ahead of her June 24 performance at Rochester International Jazz Festival.
CITY | You’ve been performing live with orchestras for many years, but this is the first time you’ve made an album with one. What took so long?
McLorin Salvant | It’s a big project and has a lot of moving parts! A lot of what took so long is getting logistics.
You say you chose the songs on this album because they’re crucial to you. What do you mean by that?
They are very important songs to me for a number of reasons and have been a part of my life for many years.
Which was the first song that you knew would be on the album, and why?
“Sophisticated Lady”! Because I love it so much. Unfortunately, this isn’t a very interesting answer because so much of choosing songs to record is intuitive.
How do you approach singing with a full orchestra versus a smaller group?
I don’t think I plan on singing any differently. But with a full orchestra we are locked into an arrangement. With a smaller group we can and do veer off, even in the structure of the song. We can’t really do that with an orchestra.
You’ve talked about how, unlike some musicians, you weren’t driven and determined in the sense of practicing 10 hours a day. Can you describe what you think was important about your musical upbringing, if not super-intensive playing? And what is your approach to practice and development at this stage of your career, especially as you’re moving in so many new directions?
I’m practicing more now than I ever have. And I’m really enjoying it so much. My musical upbringing was more about music as a part of life, as a daily part of it, not as a task, as work or something to tackle. We danced to it, we listened together, we sang together. The idea of technique or analysis was always secondary to the more communal function of music.
There’s another idea of yours that I’d like to ask you to expound on. You said in an interview once: “I’m a singer, but I don’t really feel like a singer. I feel like I’m an audience member, I’m a listener.” What do you mean by that?
I’m not sure how better to explain it, but my primary relationship to music is that of being a fan of it, and someone who listens to it extensively. Singing is a smaller part than listening in terms of how I interact with music.
What was the impact of winning a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2020?
2020 was a scary year for everyone, and for musicians it was also one of absolute uncertainty. I had no idea when or even if I would perform again. The grant was not only a huge honor, but it gave me a sense of safety in that time. But thinking about it now, now that that time is behind us, the idea that I have a MacArthur is absolutely crazy.
You have worked in an incredibly wide range of styles and genres over your career, in multiple languages and media. How do you decide what direction you’re going to go in next?
I follow my intuition, my interests, my curiosity.
Cécile McLorin Salvant performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 24, at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre as part of the Club Pass series. rochesterjazz.com
Justin Murphy is a freelance journalist and author of the book “Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger: School Segregation in Rochester, New York.” Find him online at justinmurphywriter.com.
