(Photo Cécile (right) with Jean-Francois Bonnel and Daryl Sherman)
By the time I catch up with Cécile McLorin
Salvant, it is towards the end of the Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party, after her
2nd set of the day, which was devoted to ‘Empress of the Blues’
Bessie Smith. Cécile has performed here several times, and was first brought
along in 2009 by the French reedsman
Jean-Francois Bonnel, with whom she studied and performed for a number of years. It is particularly poignant that the
festival’s founder, the greatly missed Mike Durham, triggered
her extensive study of the legendary singer, by asking her to
perform more Bessie Smith repertoire at this event.
Cécile’s musical training was initially
classical before she focussed on jazz, and her début album ‘Womanchild’ reflects
her breadth of interest in American
musical heritage, combined with a more
contemporary approach with much of the material. Her vocal technique is
excellent, and I ask whether this is due
to her classical background. She thinks not, as voice projection without a
microphone is very important in classical singing, whereas in jazz the
interpretation of spoken word is at the forefront. As if to reinforce this point, whilst we are talking several
festival goers stop to relate (in French or in English)
how much they enjoyed her Bessie Smith set, and how moved they were by
her singing . She cites many other influences as a jazz
vocalist, and has spent a lot of time listening to Betty
Carter, as well as a host of others
including Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Shirley Horn, Blossom
Dearie, Dinah Washington and Nancy
Wilson.
Jazz in all its forms seems peripheral to
popular culture in the UK ,
so does Cécile feel it is more mainstream in the US ? Not really, she says, the
audience is diminishing and mainly older, with occasional exceptions such as at Dizzy’s in NYC which is frequented by a lot of music students and
their arty friends. Jazz is never on mainstream TV. Even in New York , the range and quality of musicians
seems reduced compared to her impression of 20-30 years ago. Cécile may have access to some of the best players
around, but those with a genuine love of ‘20s and ‘30s jazz are scarce, and
tend to be more interested in the
instrumental perspective. I note that, similarly, the musicians in the
various sets this weekend do seem pretty obsessed with the recreation of
legendary arrangements, whereas her
focus is on the interpretation of lyrics, rather than recreating an icon from the past.
So what are Cécile's plans for the future? In
the coming year she plans to record her second album, but the material,
personnel and recording dates are still to be finalised. It probably will be a
selection of lesser known jazz standards, and possibly 1 or 2 originals. She is
writing material but feels that it is not ready to be recorded, comparing her
position to that of an unnamed poet who said that the first 200 compositions had to be written (badly), before one was
able to create good poems. Meanwhile,
she has a busy schedule performing worldwide, in Europe, North and South
America and Japan , with
artists such as the Christian McBride Trio and Wynton Marsalis, the latter at
the Lincoln Center . It seems that her career is on
the brink of a big change. She modestly
denies this, however, when I suggest
that her next visit to north-east England is more likely to be at a
bigger venue such as Sage Gateshead, Cécile
is most enthusiastic. But our
time for conversation is up, as she has
to go and prepare for possibly her last ever
performance at the Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party,
in a set of later Ellingtonia. She may
now be moving on in her journey
to internationally acclaimed jazz singer, but the experience Cécile McLorin Salvant has
gained from her participation in this unique event is likely to have a
significant influence on her
entire career.
Debra Milne.
1 comment :
Debra, Cécile's CD may or may not be the CD of the year. Her gig's are in the running but, irrespective, this has to be our interview of the year!
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