McLorin Salvant, Cécile. (b. 1989)

"Sisters (Masks)," 2015

Watercolor on paper. 11.75 x 15.75 inches.

Born in Miami to French and Haitian parents, Grammy-award-winning jazz singer and artist Cécile McLorin Salvant studied classical singing before discovering jazz while living in Aix-en-Provence, France. She recorded her first album, Cécile, with Jean-François Bonnel's Paris Quintet in 2009. In 2010, at age 21, she was the winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Her third album, For One To Love, won her a 2016 Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album. McLorin Salvant is praised for bringing a fresh approach to well-known or forgotten standards, recasting vaudeville, jazz, blues and folk numbers in a thoroughly modern style. The New York Times describes her as "the finest jazz singer to emerge in the last decade."

Also a visual artist, McLorin Salvant produces drawings and watercolors with a bold and confident hand. About her art, she told Rookie Mag: "Sometimes, I feel more motivated by painting and illustration. There’s something very elusive about music, something very intangible about it. It just disappears into the air. A drawing or a painting is something you can touch, look at, hold, and keep. There’s something about those elements that I really love." (14700)


Art
Art & Design
Jazz