On March 9th, at 8pm Cécile McLorin Salvant presents selections from her Grammy-winning album Dreams and Daggers and the Bill Charlap Trio celebrates Leonard Bernstein's Centennial with a set of jazz standards and Bernstein's favorites. All part of the Symphony Center Presents (SCP) jazz series.

Twenty-eight-year-old vocal phenom Cécile McLorin Salvant brings a set of jazz standards and original compositions. Regarded as a high-caliber singer that emerges, according to Wynton Marsalis, “once in a generation or two,” Salvant has been likened to Billie Holiday and Joni Mitchell for her compelling, sincere storytelling armed with wit and gravitas in equal measure. Salvant’s set features tracks from her latest Grammy-winning album, Dreams and Daggers, featuring soulful self-penned songs and cuts from the American Songbook reinvigorated by Salvant’s clever interpretations. Her band includes pianist Adam Birnbaum, bassist Paul Sikivie and drummer Kyle Poole.

The concert also includes the Bill Charlap Trio in a program featuring selections from their 2017 album of American Songbook gems, Uptown, Downtown, a release that coincided with the group’s 20-year anniversary. For this program, Charlap (piano), Peter Washington (bass) and Kenny Washington (drums) also mark the centennial of Leonard Bernstein’s birth by drawing upon the repertoire of their 2004 Grammy-nominated album Somewhere, which explores the legacy of Bernstein with often unexpected but tuneful melodies with a singular jazz flair.

Vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant has made her presence known in the jazz genre over the past decade. She first came to the attention of jazz fans with her triumph at the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Her two most recent albums, For One To Love and Dreams and Daggers, went on to earn several honors, including the 2016 and 2018 Grammy Awards for Best Vocal Jazz Album. Recently, Salvant’s work was featured in commercials for Chanel and on the soundtrack for the HBO show Bessie.

The son of a renowned Broadway composer father and jazz singer mother, pianist Bill Charlap is known for his interpretations of American popular songs and music by Hoagy Carmichael, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. He has performed with many leading artists including Phil Woods, Tony Bennett, Gerry Mulligan and Wynton Marsalis. In 1997, Charlap formed the Bill Charlap Trio, which has since received Grammy Award nominations for Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein and The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard. Charlap has recorded seven albums for Blue Note Records and is currently the artistic director of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival.

Friday, March 9, at 8 p.m. Bill Charlap Trio Cécile McLorin Salvant

Bill Charlap Trio Bill Charlap, piano Peter Washington, bass Kenny Washington, drums

Cécile McLorin Salvant Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocals Adam Birnbaum, piano Paul Sikivie, bass Kyle Poole, drums

Tickets for all Symphony Center Presents Jazz series concerts can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312-294-3000, online at cso.org or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604.