{"id":4215,"date":"2012-11-07T13:42:55","date_gmt":"2012-11-07T21:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=4215"},"modified":"2012-11-09T10:31:16","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T18:31:16","slug":"cecile-mclorin-salvant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2012\/11\/cecile-mclorin-salvant\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00c3\u00a9cile McLorin Salvant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Memo, or tweet, to Ben Ratliff: <\/p>\n

\n
I owe you one.<\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Somehow, I managed never to have heard of C\u00c3\u00a9cile McLorin Salvant until Mack Avenue, a record company, sent a message announcing that it has signed her. The announcement included a link to a Sunday New York Times<\/em> story by Mr. Ratliff. In a long article packed with praise from him and others, he wrote:<\/p>\n

Her voice clamps into each song, performing careful variations on pitch, stretching words but generally not scatting; her face conveys meaning, representing sorrow or serenity like a silent-movie actor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009duh-oh, and hm! and what<\/em>?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I thought, quoting Mr. Ratfliff intepreting one of her facial expressions; “I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d better look into this.” To read all of his article, go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The next step was to see if I could find a sample of her singing. I found this, recorded four years ago somewhere in France, with bassist Alain Guiraud and guitaritst Renaud Maret. The videographer was shooting through a glass darkly, but the audiographer, if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a term, was up close and Ms. McLorin Salvant, singing a great song, was personal.<\/p>\n