Cécile McLorin Salvant is one of the most sought-after jazz singers in the world today and has impressed listeners around the world with her uniquely expressive and powerful singing voice, original project selection and strong and catchy songwriting. 

She has released six acclaimed albums and performed in concerts around the world to great acclaim. Salvant is a three-time Grammy Award winner and has also received three Grammy nominations and numerous other awards and recognitions for her music. These include the Critics' Award from music magazine DownBeat and public radio station NPR as well as the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2020. 

“A singer like this only appears once or twice a century” - Wynton Marsalis 

Cécile McLorin Salvant was born in the United States in 1989 but traces her origins to Haiti, Tunisia and France. She studied law and opera singing before turning to jazz singing, but she first attracted significant attention in 2010 when she won the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition. Salvant has released six albums that bear witness to her unique perspective, curiosity and experimental spirit in project selection and songwriting. Blues and baroque, jazz, pop and gospel music and folk traditions from all over the world merge with Salvant's own music, which conveys a unique artistry and deep sensitivity to the essence of the music in each case. 

The program in Eldborg on August 31, at the closing concert of the Reykjavík Jazz Festival, will include a mix of original and older music from various genres. 

Band: 

Sullivan Fortner (piano) 

Yasushi Nakamura (bass) 

Kyle Poole (drums) 

Awards and recognitions:

•  Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition (2010)

•  Jazz Album of the Year, DownBeat Critics Poll, WomanChild (2014)

•  Best Vocal Jazz Album, Grammy Award nomination, WomanChild (2014)

•  Top Vocal Album, NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll 2014, WomanChild,

•  Female Vocalist of the Year, 2015, Jazz Journalists Association

•  Top Vocal Album, NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll 2015, For One to Love

•  Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album 2016, For One to Love

•  Paul Ackett Award 2016

•  Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album 2018, Dreams and Daggers

•  Jazz Album of the Year, DownBeat Critics Poll, Dreams and Daggers (2018)

•  Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album 2019, The Window

•  Glenn Gould Protege Prize Recipient, awarded by Jessye Norman at the Twelfth Glenn Gould Prize Gala (2019)

•  MacArthur Genius Grant Winner (2020)

•  Jazz Journalists Association's Jazz Award for Female Vocalist of the Year (2022)