Cécile McLorin Salvant is a singer and composer who grew up studying classical music, surrounded by the musical traditions in her native Miami. Her work has explored Haitian folk music, jazz standards, blues, and original composition, gaining Grammy nominations and MacArthur Genius grant along the way. She’s performing Saturday November 1 at the Berklee Performance Center, and spoke to Va Lynda Robinson and Julia Marcus ahead of her performance.
Va Lynda Robinson: Cécile, I am so glad to be talking to you. I am honored that you are starting your tour here in Boston! My favorite song by you is “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” from “Woman Child.” I think it’s romantic, I think it’s tender; tell me about that song.
Cécile McLorin Salvant: I must have recorded that 10 years ago, maybe even more! I just find it to be a really beautiful standard. Richard Rogers wrote that song.
Va Lynda Robinson: I’d like to ask you, what would you call your style, Cécile?
Cécile McLorin Salvant: I think I’ve hovered between orthodoxy and heterodoxy in music, if that makes any sense. At the same time, I’m really, really eclectic. But I’m also really interested in traditions and roots and history. And so I think I try to find a good balance between those things.
Julia Marcus: While we’re talking about your style, I want to talk about how on this album, you’re moving seamlessly across so many different genres. Was your approach for this, “Here’s my lyrics, here’s a story, and I’m going to find what genre,” or are you saying, “I haven’t done a folk song, I haven’t done auto-tune, I haven’t done club song, let me just try it?”
Cécile McLorin Salvant: I think it’s a lot more intuitive than that. It’s not as planned and I also don’t necessarily think in terms of genre while I’m making the song. For some of these songs I was just listening to a million different loops. It’s seeing where that idea takes me and not resisting where it takes me.
Julia Marcus: That’s awesome. That’s even more inspiring, even more impressive.
Va Lynda Robinson: You know, Cécile, you have toured with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. And Wynton Marsalis, who is the music director, was quoted in 2017 by the New Yorker saying that “You get a singer like this once in a generation or two.” How does that make you feel?
Cécile McLorin Salvant: It makes me feel a couple different ways. The first way is grateful. And the second way is nervous and scared. I feel like I don’t wanna think about that too much. You know, when it came out, I was really happy that he said such nice things about me. I can’t be thinking like that every day because it gets in the way of your daily life. I was kind of brought up to be down to the ground and not really think I’m anything special. Everybody’s special. Everybody’s great in their way, and to not walk around with too much pretension. So, you know, I don’t think about it too much. I am so, so proud that he said that, but I’m happier that my mom was able to read that Wynton said that I’m a once-in-a-generation talent. I can’t believe that and then keep being myself, if that makes sense.
Va Lynda Robinson: You’re an all-around artist, Cécile. I’d like to hear about your work with Chanel!
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Oh, wow. That was a long time ago, too. I was thinking about it the other day because I feel like, you know, it’s a 15 second jingle that I’m singing. I think if they were to do it today, they would probably just get AI to do it. It was really of its time. I don’t know if anything like that will happen again for me. I mean, it was really a fun experience, but I literally sang one line from “Taking a Chance on Love.”
Julia Marcus: So paying attention specifically to the lyrics of “Oh Snap,” I see that we start and we end with [songs about] frogs. Would you like to speak on that?
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Yeah, I am terrified of frogs. And I think I was scared of this album and what it what it ended up being. I was scared of sharing it. And so I thought, you know, I feel like there’s something to kind of choosing as your spirit animal the one that frightens you the most, and stepping towards things that scare you, like, what’s the worst that can happen? I mean, I guess a frog could poison me. But I was thinking about this Matsuo Bashō poem about a frog that jumps into an ancient pond, and the sound of water that you hear after it jumps in. I think that that’s such a beautiful image. I’m finding new meaning to that image every day, and so I wanted that to be the anchor for the album, this thing that frightened me, that I also find beautiful and funny and sweet. I mean, from a distance, I find them to be cute and sweet but only if they’re far, far away from me.
Va Lynda Robinson: Well, my last question, I’d like to know, what are we going to see at Berklee tomorrow?
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Tomorrow, I think it’s gonna be a mix of a bunch of different things. New album, old album, new things that we haven’t recorded. We keep it pretty loose and open. As of right now, there is no set list for tomorrow. We just try to keep it playful and be present and in the moment, which is really, really, really hard to do actually.
Julia Marcus: I’ll be there tomorrow! The last thing I wanted to say is when I saw you at Sanders Theater last year, you sang “Always Something There to Remind Me.” It was amazing because in high school I worked at Lowe’s, and they had a recording of that song that was so busted, and they played it every day. And every day I was like, “I hate this song. Oh my God, it’s so bad.” And then you sang it and messed around with it and gave it a new life!
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Oh, that’s so sweet!
Julia Marcus: That’s my memory of your last show, and I’m very excited to see you tomorrow.
Cécile McLorin Salvant performs Saturday November 1 at the Berklee Performance Center, part of the Celebrity Series of Boston. Her new album is “Oh Snap.”
