For One To Love, vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant's recent album, is a popular new release at WRTI, and has been nominated for a 2015 GRAMMY Award.
This is not the first GRAMMY nomination for the Miami-born, classically trained chanteuse; her 2014 breakout release, WomanChild, was also nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
For One To Love is a departure from the reliance of standards displayed in her previous album, and is used as a bit of a platform for Cecile. Boasting five originals, this new record also features a few tunes that are not typically heard in the jazz genre, one of which is the controversial Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition, "Wives and Lovers.” You may recall the Frank Sinatra or Jack Jones versions of this song, which reminds the “little girls” that “wives should be lovers, too.”
While it seems absurd that a woman would be inclined to perform this song, Cecile chose to do it to use humor as a tool for making her point accessible to the masses.
In an interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, McLorin Salvant stated, “I made the choice of laughing at patriarchy, this is how I direct and express my frustrations. Had I heard this song sung by a woman, as a teenager, it would have made me laugh and feel empowered by the idea of mocking the 1960s ideal of the ‘perfect’ woman.”
Cecile McLorin Salvant and Brooklyn flex dancer Storyboard P have teamed up to shoot a video for “Wives and Lovers,” which is featured below. Storyboard P’s dance is completely improvised, much like most of jazz. The collaboration is ideal for this piece of music, as both parties are doing something out-of-the-box, yet straight from the heart. (There is a full video and an uncut video showing only Storyboard P, so you can see the entire dance unfold).
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