Cécile McLorin Salvant: Mélusine

Mélusine is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who turns into a half-snake each Saturday as a result of a childhood curse by her mother. Not by coincidence, is also the name of the 2023 album (on Nonesuch Records) from Cécile McLorin Salvant, following Ghost Song, which has received two Grammy nominations and many mentions on the best albums of 2022 lists around the world.

The singer, composer and a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy Award winner, was born in Miami from French mother and Haitian father. And says Mélusine is also "partly about that feeling of being a hybrid, a mixture of different cultures, which I've experienced not only as the American-born child of two first generation immigrants, but as someone raised in a family that is racially mixed, from several different countries, with different languages spoken in the home."

The 14 songs of the album combine elements from French mythology, Haitian Vaudoo, and apocrypha. Alongside the five originals, McLorin Salvant recreates nine ancient themes, from the twelfth century to the '80s. "Dame Iseut," the last song of the album, was translated into Haitian Kreyòl by her dad from the Occitan, which is an ancient language spoken in the south of France. McLorin Salvant's grandmother spoke a little, and her brother used to teach it.

In common, the classical educated voice of McLorin Salvant, which allows her to arrogates any song she chose to sing. Silky, soft, emotive, pervasive, virtuous, always elegant, no matter the rhythm or tempo of the tune. Mélusine it's an album to hear every day, even on Saturdays.

Contact Pedro Keul on All About Jazz.
Pedro is a sports journalist with a passion for jazz.

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