Cécile McLorin Salvant: Jazz Beyond Boundaries in Prague

“Into the old pond / a frog jumps / splash,” is perhaps the most famous poem by Macuo Bašō, a classic of Japanese haiku. The three-line verse, centuries old, invites countless interpretations, from a suppression of personal feelings in favor of nature to revealing subconscious connections in the mind that spread like ripples on the surface of water, only to vanish just as quickly.

In the hands of Cécile McLorin Salvant, it works quite literally. The 36-year-old, three-time Grammy winner has primarily sung jazz throughout her career. But this Wednesday at the Lucerna Grand Hall in Prague, she sat down at the keyboards and, while performing a musical setting of Bašō’s poem, a disco-style dance beat pulsed from a laptop courtesy of the drummer. The sound reverberated through the traditionally arranged hall, where audience members, some in suits or evening gowns, sat as if a frog had just broken the stillness of a pond.

Salvant framed her newly released eighth album, Oh Snap, with two tracks referencing the popular haiku. She performed both songs Wednesday night, capping off the 29th edition of the Prague Sounds festival, formerly known as Strings of Autumn.

The 90-minute performance spanned modern jazz, country-folk, chanson, a rendition of “The Trolley Song” from the musical Meet Me in St. Louis, experimental electronic music, and a cover of Sting’s pop ballad “Until” from Kate & Leopold. Pianist Mathis Picard, alternating between a Yamaha grand piano and a synthesizer, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Kyle Poole, who also played an electronic drum pad with his sticks, all excelled on stage.

But it was Salvant who commanded the most attention. She sported designer glasses with a double frame and a hand-knitted, lace red cap adorned with fluorescent beads. A multi-faceted artist, she sings, composes, paints, and designs her album covers and clothing.

Attendees at Wednesday’s concert would attest to Salvant’s acting talent. She accompanied the stories within each song with expressive gestures and facial expressions. For example, during a performance of the chanson “Est-ce ainsi que les hommes vivent?” – set to lyrics by French surrealist Louis Aragon and famously sung by Léo Ferré in the 1960s – she dramatically extended her arms, stepped away from the microphone, and then moved back in.

Her perfect French is easily explained. Salvant was born in Miami to a French mother and a Haitian father. She grew up speaking French, moved to France as a teenager, and studied law there after graduating high school, in addition to her singing. She relocated to the U.S. after winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition at age 21, and has lived there ever since.

Since then, she has interpreted jazz standards, original compositions, and repertoire in Spanish and French with her distinctive voice. She’s performed in classic trio or quartet formats, as a duo with a pianist, or with orchestral accompaniment. Salvant is increasingly musically adventurous and clearly doesn’t want to use her voice in a conventional way. She took her boldest step yet with her latest album, Oh Snap, which is eclectic and, at times, decidedly avant-garde. Seven of the twelve songs from the album were featured during Wednesday’s performance.

The genre-bending approach seems to stem from her experience as a first-generation American. The cosmopolitan sound of the album feels like a reflection of Salvant’s multicultural background, drawing inspiration from jazz legends like Billie Holiday and Carmen McRae, as evidenced by her opening performance of “Obsession,” originally recorded by Sarah Vaughan on her 1987 album Brazilian Romance.

Salvant also revealed in interviews that her childhood was shaped by listening to boy bands like The Backstreet Boys, groups such as ’N Sync and the Spice Girls, and soundtracks from Disney animated films.

She initially developed the twelve songs on Oh Snap in applications like GarageBand and Logic before recording them with her band. She describes them as something of a diary. She even set the haiku about the frog to music because of a lifelong aversion to them. “And precisely because I’m so afraid of them, they became a symbol for me, a way to confront my dark side,” she explained.

The allegorical song “Take This Stone,” also performed in Prague, was written in the Brooklyn neighborhood where she lives. “I once saw something incredible while walking. A huge praying mantis attacking a bird. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. But then I found out that praying mantises attack birds and frogs, and I was so fascinated that I wrote this song,” she explained to the Prague audience.

The song features a melody reminiscent of a spiritual from the era of the African American civil rights movement. On the album, Salvant sings it accompanied by acoustic guitar and guest vocalists June McDoom and Kate Davis. But the Prague version, with piano, bass, and drums, was equally compelling.

Although the quartet consists of players with jazz backgrounds, this wasn’t a jazz concert. Songs from the new album, like the electro-ballad “I am a Volcano,” are more reminiscent of Icelandic singer Björk, while “Second Guessing” leans toward modern R&B. Only “Expanse,” a ballad written during the coronavirus pandemic, “Anything But Now,” and “What Does Blue Mean to You,” referencing the novel Beloved by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, were more overtly jazz-influenced, even in modern arrangements.

Like the album, the concert had a wide range of genres, and not everything fit together seamlessly. However, Cécile McLorin Salvant’s fantastic singing made this artistic adventure captivating.

The artist, with a nearly four-octave range, possesses a fascinating lower register and stunning high notes. She phrases perfectly, emotionally colors her words, and uses the full dynamic range from pianissimo to forte within a single song.

Her immense charisma is supported by total control over every note, which is fully evident in the harmonically rich original songs. Technically, Salvant, alongside Esperanza Spalding, Nicole Zuraitis, and the younger Samara Joy, is among the most interesting jazz singers of the 21st century—even if she doesn’t scat and currently seems to be taking a slightly different direction.