Jazz

What better way of making a new record than surrounding yourself with new collaborators? That was the idea that Youn Sun Nah had for She Moves On. Four years after Lento, the Korean singer has taken on a close-knit group comprising John Zorn, Jamie Saft on the piano, the Hammond organ, the Fender Rhodes and the Wurlitzer (he also produced the record), and Brad Jones on the bass alongside drummer Dan Rieser, who worked with Norah Jones in Little Willies. But it is above all the presence of the guitarist Marc Ribot on five of these eleven tracks that draws attention. Surrounded by these four strong personalities, Youn Sun Nah explores a fairly varied repertoire that owes as much to rock as to folk, to rhythms as to lyrics, taking in covers of Joni Mitchell (The Dawntreader), Paul Simon (She Moves On), Lou Reed (Teach The Gifted Children), Jimi Hendrix (Drifting with a searing solo from Ribot) or the traditional Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair. Three original compositions, Traveller, Evening Star and Too Late, complete this album which is resolutely inspired by American music and which presents her impressive voice in a context which rightly recalls Norah Jones, or Melody Gardot. But Youn Sun Nah's vocal personality is strong enough that she never seems to be stepping on her illustrious sisters’ toes, and she offers, from the outset, a record that is all her own. © MD/Qobuz

One album after another, Cecile McLorin Salvant reminds us she’s anything but the stereotypical “jazz singer”. Revealed to the public in 2013 with her gorgeous WomanChild, she stepped it up a gear two years later with For One To Love, an even more masterful and complete record, on which her voice worked wonders. Born on August 28th, 1989 in Miami, Florida, she studied French law, baroque and vocal jazz in Aix-en-Provence before winning the Thelonious Monk International Competition in 2010 (at only 20, in front of a jury composed of Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Patti Austin, Dianne Reeves and Kurt Elling!). She went on to display impressive qualities as a composer as well with five original songs on her 2015 album. With Dreams And Dagger the French-American, who now lives in Harlem, is releasing a third album recorded live at Village Vanguard, the New York Mecca of jazz, and at the DiMenna Center, supported by her faithful trio (pianist Aaron Diehl, bass player Paul Sikivie and drummer Lawrence Leathers) and some guests on a few tracks, such as Quatuor Catalyst and pianist Sullivan Fortner. A real choice for the artist, who wishes she could only record live albums, the context in which her band’s sound is most faithfully presented. More classic in its form than her two previous works, Dreams And Dagger is proof of her fluency no matter the repertoire. For a classic like My Man’s Gone Now, for which thousands of versions already exist, she embarks with her voice on unique paths, to astounding effect! Furthermore, Cecile McLorin Salvant fully bonds with her trio, which isn’t just a simple stooge for her amazing voice, but an essential part of her musical world. Once again, she blazes an even deeper trail, far from the Billie/Sarah/Ella Holy Trinity, because as Wynton Marsalis put it: “You only get a singer like this once in a generation or two…”. © MD/Qobuz