South Florida JAZZ Presents Cécile McLorin Salvant in Concert May 9th

South Florida JAZZ, the area’s premier modern jazz organization, is thrilled to present Cécile McLorin Salvant on Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 8:00 PM. This concert will take place at the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center on the Nova Southeastern University campus, 3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr Blvd, Davie 33314. 

Cécile McLorin Salvant is making an eagerly awaited South Florida JAZZ debut. When she competed in the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, she was the youngest finalist ever. After taking first-place in the jazz world’s most prestigious contest, the buzz began and steadily intensified in the months leading up to the launch of her Mack Avenue Records debut, WomanChild, in 2013. DownBeat Magazine named it Best Jazz Album of the Year in its 2014 critics poll along with Best Female Vocalist and Rising Star Female Vocalist; and placed her photo on the cover of that issue. The jazz world eagerly awaits what this sophisticated and ebullient young artist will do next.

Cécile McLorin Salvant was born and raised in Miami, Florida of a French mother and a Haitian father. She started classical piano studies at five, and began singing in the Miami Choral Society at eight. Early on, she developed an interest in classical voice, began studying with private instructors, and later with Edward Walker, vocal teacher at the University of Miami.

In 2007, Cécile moved to Aix-en-Provence, France, to study law as well as classical and baroque voice at the Darius Milhaud Conservatory. It was in Aix-en-Provence, with reedist and teacher Jean-François Bonnel that she delved into instrumental and vocal repertoire ranging from Bessie Smith and the improvisation beyond of Betty Carter, Carmen McRae and Abbey Lincoln. She also began to sing with a band. In 2009, after a series of concerts in Paris, she recorded her first album, Cécile, with Jean-François Bonnel's Paris Quintet. Just a year later, a star was born as Cécile emerged and captured first-place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition.

Cécile enjoys performing unique interpretations of little known and scarcely recorded jazz and blues compositions. She also focuses on a theatrical portrayal of the jazz standard and composes music and lyrics, which she also sings in French, her native language, as well as in Spanish. She is enjoying accelerating popularity in Europe and in the United States, performing in clubs, concert halls, and festivals, accompanied by renowned European and American musicians. After signing with Mack Avenue Records, Cécile recorded WomanChild, which was nominated for a Grammy® for Best Jazz Album in 2014. Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll named it Best Jazz Album of the year while also voting her Best Female Vocalist and Rising Star Female Vocalist. Her photo graced that August 2014 edition of Downbeat.

In addition to touring with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Cécile has a busy concert and festival schedule with her band that takes her throughout Europe, North and South America and beyond. Cécile's WomanChild recording, her first on Mack Avenue Records, was named Best Jazz Album by Downbeat Critics Poll and nominated for the 2014 Grammy.

ARTISTIC PERSONNEL

Cécile McLorin Salvant – vocals

Aaron Diehl – piano

Paul Sikizie - double bass

Lawrence Leathers – drums