Cécile McLorin Salvant

In co-production with the BASF cultural program, the Enjoy Jazz Festival 2024 presents the three Grammy Award-winning American jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. For Der Spiegel she is the "heir to Billie Holiday" and for the New York Times simply "the best jazz singer of the last decade".

Cécile McLorin Salvant is many voices. Unmistakable, certainly, but she also has something chameleon-like about her; she lets herself in, possesses what all the greats have: an absolute feeling for phrasing, nuances, rhythm, an unerring sense for songs to which she gives her enthusiasm. She has the blues and the swing, is at home in French and English, not forgetting her Caribbean roots. Above all, however, she can ensnare the most diverse pieces with her voice - whether she is evoking Gaelic vocal traditions, free jazz or musical sounds on "Ghost Song", or interpreting her own material or classics on "Mélusine". In an interview with Jazz Podium, she said that she is obsessed with words, their layers of meaning, their sound. "And then I try to work out that the sound of a word represents its meaning. For me, Billie Holiday was the grand master of this process." Just between you and me: she is too!