SFJAZZ has announced its 2022–23 concert season including performances from Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Brian Blade, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Laurie Anderson, and Mariza. This marks the 10th anniversary season of the SFJAZZ Center and the 40th anniversary of the organization.

The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall in Toronto has announced its 2022–23 concert season, including performances from Nonesuch artists Tigran Hamasyan, Kronos Quartet, Punch Brothers, Jeremy Denk, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and Joshua Redman.

Cécile McLorin Salvant has released a video of her performing Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, and Herbert Stothart's "Optimistic Voices" and Gregory Porter's "No Love Dying," from her Nonesuch debut album, Ghost Song, with Sullivan Fortner on piano, Marvin Sewell on guitar, Alexa Tarantino on flute, and Keita Ogawa on percussion. You can watch it below. Salvant and the band will give the New York premiere performance of Ghost Song in two shows at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater tonight and on Friday. Tonight's performance will also stream live and will be available on demand through May 18. 

Congratulations to Cécile McLorin Salvant and Mary Halvorson, who have won the Jazz Journalists Association's 2022 JJA Jazz Awards: Salvant as Female Vocalist of the Year and Halvorson as Guitarist of the Year. Kudos also to Christian McBride, who has been named Bassist of the Year.

The Jazz Journalists Association has announced the nominees for the 2022 JJA Jazz Awards, including Rhiannon Giddens (for Banjo), Cécile McLorin Salvant (Female Vocalist of the Year), Mary Halvorson (Guitarist, Duo of the Year), and International Anthem (Record Label of the Year).

Singer/songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant's Nonesuch debut album, Ghost Song, is out now. The New York Times calls it "her most revealing and rewarding album yet." Uncut says she is "one of the most daring and resourceful vocalists in jazz—or any other genre, for that matter." The Arts Desk exclaims: "The treasure trove of marvels that is Ghost Song exceeds all expectations." Nonesuch Store LP and CD orders include an exclusive signed artwork by Salvant while they last. Salvant has a solo art exhibition at Picture Room in Brooklyn opening tonight, heads out on tour in Europe next week, and will play two nights at Jazz at Lincoln Center in May.

Cécile McLorin Salvant takes part in the Qobuz One Cover One Word interview series to talk about her discovery of jazz, her inspirations, and more. She shares her thoughts on recordings by Melissa Aldana, Fiona Apple, Ambrose Akinmusire, Thelonious Monk, Kendrick Lamar, Max Roach, Soundgarden, Nina Simone, and Sullivan Fortner. "Things are getting more and more personal for me as the years go by," she says of her own new album, Ghost Song, and I feel less and less afraid of writing and singing the music that I'm hearing inside. So, I think this album is a testament to that." You can see what else she had to say here.

Congratulations to Cécile McLorin Salvant, who has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation as part of its new Creative Inflections program. Salvant, a 2020 Doris Duke Artist, is one of seven artists to receive the new grant, which is given to the artist and a collaborating presenting organization. In Salvant's case, that is the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, for "Ogress: Envisioned," a multimedia, animated piece in which her illustrations bring to life her musical exploration of the true story of Sara Baartman, a 19th-century South African woman taken to Europe and put on display who now stands as a symbol of colonialist, racist, and sexist exploitation.

Cécile McLorin Salvant has released her take on the Sting song "Until," from her Nonesuch debut album Ghost Song, due March 4; you can watch the video here. "This is the weirdest, moodiest set of lyrics," she says. "I feel like lyrics can morph into what you want them to be depending on when you listen. Of course it’s about love and romance, but there are these weird turns it takes, the dance at the center of the song. And that idea of catching the world in an hourglass is so great to me. I’m obsessed with hourglasses; I draw a lot of them in my visual art. It’s one of my favorite memento mori moments—the beauty of it and also the finality of it."

Nonesuch Records releases Brad Mehldau’s Jacob’s Ladder on March 18 on CD; a vinyl LP version is due later in the year (date TBD). The album features new music that reflects on scripture and the search for God through music inspired by the prog rock he loved as a young adolescent—his gateway to the fusion that eventually led to his discovery of jazz. Featured musicians on the album include label mates Chris Thile and Cécile McLorin Salvant, as well as Mark Guiliana, Becca Stevens, Joel Frahm, and others. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an exclusive signed, limited-edition print while they last. You can watch a video for ‘maybe as his skies are wide’—a song that builds off an interpolation of one portion of Rush’s classic "Tom Sawyer"—here.

Cécile McLorin Salvant has released "Thunderclouds," from her Nonesuch debut album Ghost Song, due March 4; you can watch the video here. "I suffer from insomnia, and so do others in my family, and in one way this song is about having to suffer in darkness," she says. "It’s again celebrating something that is dark—that line, ‘Sometimes you have to gaze into a well to see the sky.’ It’s talking about looking down into the depths of a situation to truly see the beauty of it."

Joshua Redman and Cécile McLorin Salvant are among the artists to contribute tracks to Relief, a compilation of previously unreleased music to benefit Jazz Foundation of America, out today. Redman's track, "Facts," is from the sessions for his 2018 Nonesuch album Still Dreaming, with cornetist Ron Miles, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Brian Blade; Salvant performs "Easy Come, Easy Go Blues." Both can be heard here. All net proceeds from Relief will go to JFA's Musicians’ Emergency Fund, which provides direct financial support to musicians in need.