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Creativity Assertion #3: Work through Insight 

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Creativity Assertion #3: Work through Insight 

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"The willingness to work through insight and go beyond careful analysis... the "aha!" experience of insight can bring things together in new and unexpected ways." (Starko, 2018, pg 107)

It is clear from the emotional depth from which Cécile sings and writes that she has used her art form to work through previously experienced pain and heartbreak. She describes how her creative process has allowed her to spontaneously delve into deeper and more difficult topics.

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She has a four octave range That's insane.

She sings in English, French (her native language), and Spanish.

She is classically trained in jazz, blues, folk, musical theater, cabaret, and vaudeville traditions.

Her father is Haitian and her mother is French. She was born in Miami, FL.

"You get a singer like this once in a generation or two." -New Yorker

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Many of my salty tears were shed to the dreamy verses of "Monday", as I discovered it in the midst of a long-distance breakup circa 2019.

"I lived a dream with you"

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Creativity Assertion #1:  Adaptable and Evolving

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Creativity Assertion #1:  Adaptable and Evolving

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As witnessed in the story of "Slack", not everything goes according to plan... and that can be for the best! Developers of the technology used originally for the online game, Glitch, faced the need to evolve, resulting in the widely-used workplace communication app.

Before releasing her first jazz studio album, Cécile had explored many other genres until landing on the collection of jazz sounds that now define her unique style. But she didn't stop there. Cécile's creative art form does not only present itself in auditory form but is accompanied by a visual representations that she felt to incorporate out of need. While this element had not initially been a part of her music, Cécile was able to adapt and evolve to meet both personal creative needs and the social climate in the U.S.

"From listening to McLorin Salvant's exquisite performance here, I also couldn't tell that when she was 15, she was listening to Alice in Chains, sported a Mohawk and was into what she calls "radical feminist punk stuff." -Suraya Mohamed, NPR (2018)

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Creativity Assertion #2: Willing to take risks 

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Creativity Assertion #2: Willing to take risks 

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"The ability to take on risk is a vital component of doing creative work" (Shekerjian, 1990, pg 24).

Cécile is not one to follow the status quo. Her interdisciplinary works create bridges between visual art,  compositions, and story telling in ways that veer off from traditional jazz music. Currently, Cécile is working on a long-form song cycle titled "Ogresse", in which she adapts 19th century oral fairy tales to discuss issues of racism and sexism.

She describes herself as a "frustrated non-actress" who discovered music as a way to tell the stories to which she yearned to give voice. Rather than pursue a career on the stage, Cécile has created an art form of her very own in which she bridges visual art, music, and  story telling. She tells stories of love, passion, injustice, and pain. Although this class of artistic innovation can be a risk, it was clearly worth it (not only for Cécile but also her lucky audiences worldwide)!

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"Using manifold powers of interpretation to infuse jazz standards and original compositions with a vibrant, global, Black, feminist sensibility." 

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"Using manifold powers of interpretation to infuse jazz standards and original compositions with a vibrant, global, Black, feminist sensibility." 

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MacArthur, 2020

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Of all the impressive MacArthur fellows, I chose Cécile for this assignment because her music has actually been quite impactful in my life, specifically her song "Monday"  (9:25 in the video below). More on that later. I was so proud to see her show up on the list of 2020 fellows! Cécile is an artist in every sense of the word; she is bold, authentic, and continuously dares to traverse new and uncomfortable spaces in order to tell the stories of her soul, history, and people.

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Cécile McLorin Salvant: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert