When Cécile McLorin Salvant arrived at the Kennedy Center in Washington to compete in the finals of the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, she was not only the youngest finalist, but also a total mystery with the most unusual background of all the participants. When she walked away with first place in the jazz world's most prestigious contest, the buzz began almost immediately.

• Vinyl LP
• Gatefold Cover
• Pressed at Optimal Media, Germany

Michael Fremer Rated 10/11 Music, 10/11 Sonics!

The New York Times Best Jazz Albums of 2022 - Rated 1/10!
Jazzwise The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2022 - Rated 1/20!
Fred Kaplan's The Best Jazz Albums of 2022 - Rated 1/10!
NPR Music Best Albums of 2022 - Rated 45/50!
JazzTimes The Top 40 Jazz Albums of 2022 - Rated 4/40!

2023 Grammy Award Nominee:
• Best Jazz Vocal Album: Ghost Song
• Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: "Optimistic Voices / No Love Dying"

"The sound, in general, on vinyl and digital, is superb, recorded in 24/96 digital — mainly at Brooklyn's Bunker Studio, renowned for its fine piano and vintage mikes — and mixed on a Neve 8088 analog console. The album sounds warmer than usual but also crisp and detailed, an effect pulled off with a deft combination of mikes — tubes (a Neuman U47 on her voice), condensers, and ribbons. There is no EQ or other artificial additives. On the church tracks, the reverb is natural, not electronic." — Performance = 5/5; Sonics = 5/5 - Fred Kaplan, Stereophile

"Her voice is singularly arresting, yet it's no single sound. She found her own unique identity which is what most separates her from her peers." — Wall Street Journal

"An artist with so fresh a point of view that her singing amounts to a re-writing," — The Nation

Singer/songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant makes her Nonesuch Records debut with the release of Ghost Song. The new album features a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia, and yearning.

Salvant says, "It's unlike anything I've done before-it's getting closer to reflecting my personality as an eclectic curator. I'm embracing my weirdness!"

The New York Times calls it "her most revealing and rewarding album yet." Uncut calls her "one of the most daring and resourceful vocalists in jazz-or any other genre, for that matter." Jazzwise describes the album as "music of sensitivity and intelligence, which underlines Salvant's growth as an artist of stature who stylistic choices are as daring as they are mature." You can pick up a copy and hear it here; Nonesuch Store LP and CD orders include an exclusive, limited edition signed artwork by Salvant while they last.

In a decade plus worth of memorable Grammy Award winning albums, this one is probably Salvant's most fully realized, most varied, and so her best - and that's facing very stiff competition! It's sonically stupendous as well. Add attractive gatefold packaging and a quiet Pallas German pressing and you have a 'must have' album. - Michael Fremer, Analog Planet, Music 10/11, Sound 10/11

Track Listing:

01. Wuthering Heights
02. Optimistic Voices
03. Ghost Song
04. Obligation
05. Until
06. I Lost My Mind
07. Moon Song
08. Trail Mix
09. The World Is Mean
10. Dead Poplar
11. Thunderclouds
12. Unquiet Grave

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫