Cécile McLorin Salvant

‘This will be a short review. In fact, I'm tempted to write the word ‘sensational’ and leave it at that.’ That's how one critic recently put it after a concert by Cécile McLorin Salvant in Edinburgh. But perhaps a few more words need to be said about this phenomenal artist, who is not only trained in jazz, but also in opera and baroque singing. She sings in French, English, Creole and Occitan. She revitalises the blues, French chanson and American classics. She is at home in airy pitches, but also impresses with earthy depth. And who is simply a phenomenon on stage. It is high time to welcome the charismatic US-American with French-Haitian roots to the Alte Oper - for her debut as part of the JAZZnights in a quartet formation.