"Cécile McLorin Salvant, better known as Cécile, was back in Portland Feb. 10, this time at the fairly intimate (300-400 seats, depending on the concert configuration) Alberta Rose Theatre. PDX Jazz brought in the MacArthur Fellow, Grammy Award winner and utterly original jazz vocalist as an appetizer to the Biamp Portland Jazz Festival, which runs March 5-14, a change of month from previous years in an effort to avoid lousy February weather."
"She has perfect pitch, a range from tenor that dips occasionally into baritone to high soprano, and precise and expressive articulation. She tells a song's story with full-on emotion or playfulness, sometimes with eye-popping humor and surprise, and she does engage the audience occasionally by popping out her eyes from behind her granny glasses. She writes and arranges many of her tunes,"
""It's hard to think of a contemporary jazz vocalist with as much control over her instrument as Cécile," Kerry Politzer, a Portland jazz pianist and educator, said. "Not only is Cécile an amazing technician, but she's a spellbinding performer." Just look at what she wears - quirky shapes of vintage and/or arty outfits in a crayon-box of colors - nothing you've seen much before on the jazz stage (maybe Broadway or opera),"
Cécile McLorin Salvant performed a sold-out, 90-minute no-intermission set at the Alberta Rose Theatre that provoked standing ovations and an encore. The singer demonstrates perfect pitch, an expansive range from tenor through soprano, precise articulation, and expressive phrasing that conveys emotion, playfulness, and humor. She writes and arranges many of her own tunes and confidently covers material by idols such as Sarah Vaughan and contemporary artists like Sting. Her stage presence includes quirky, colorful vintage outfits and occasional audience engagement, reinforcing a reputation for technical mastery and spellbinding performance.
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
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