Analysis Of Cecile Mclorin Salvant's Performance

Music is magical: it soothes you when you are upset and cheers you up when you are down. To me, it is a communication with souls. I listen to different genres of music. When appreciating each form of music, with its unique rhythm and melody, I expect to differentiate each other by the feelings and emotions that it brings to me. However, I would definitely never call myself “a fan of jazz” until I witnessed Cécile McLorin Salvant’s performance last Friday at Mondavi Center. Through the interpretations and illustrations from Cécile’s performance, I realized that the cultural significance and individual identity are the building blocks of jazz music that create its unique musical features and support its development.
On April 30 at Mondavi

Along with the audience applauding and whistling, Cécile McLorin Salvant, the Grammy winner and the “finest jazz singer to emerge in the last decade” (Nate Chinen, New York Times), walked to the center of the dark stage. The Cécile McLorin Salvant’s ensemble consisted of three extraordinary musicians, each with his own instrument that created specific timbres. In the ensemble, there was Cécile’s voice, a traditional piano, a drum sets and a chordophone called double bass. The piano is the fundamental instrument for all kinds of jazz performance since its origin. In jazz culture, it was considered as the main instrument for not only jazz composition, but also improvising performance. With its wide range of pitches and the easiness of improvisation, it took part as the main rhythms and melodies for Cécile’s performance. The drum sets which provided the supporting rhythm were comprised of several tenor drums, a bass drum that created very low and deep sounds and four crash cymbals which created more high and crispy sounds. The most interesting instrument in the performance was the double bass. Instead of using the bow, the musician, during the one and a half of hour performance, plucked the strings by hands. With his