How far can a song travel?
Exploring the roots of jazz, blues, folk, theatre, and even baroque music, Cécile McLorin Salvant is a musical storyteller and curator, unearthing forgotten songs and overlooked stories, giving them a new life. She is drawn to songs and stories that have been forgotten, instruments that have fallen out of use, and languages and performance styles on the brink of extinction.
In Book of Ayres, the three-time Grammy Award-winner brings together top improvising musicians from different worlds: early music, jazz, folk, and electronic. Synthesizers and percussion meet with flute and harpsichord, creating a colourful backdrop for a new type of folk song. Stories feature from different tongues across eras and borders, blending early music and vaudeville, Sappho and folkloric material of Europe and the Americas.
Salvant sings airs by Dowland, Purcell, Monteverdi, and others, accompanied by Sullivan Fortner on harpsichord, Emi Ferguson on flutes, Dušan Balarin on theorbo and lute, Yasushi Nakamura on bass and Keita Ogawa on percussion. New material written by Cécile will also appear for the first time as part of this UK premiere and first performance outside North America.
Part of Unfinished Revolutions, a season tracing the living legacy of 1776.
“Part of my practice is imagining musical family trees and learning from the influences of my influences. Growing up, I wanted to be an opera singer. Opera led me to Baroque music, which led me to early music. I had a similar path with American music.
I gravitate towards forgotten songs, early or maligned instruments, and languages and performance styles on the brink of extinction. I bring this process of excavation into my own writing, blending old and new, exploring language and mythology. I have been making the unoriginal yet concerted effort to move beyond categorizing music by genre. What I am interested in is exploring, celebrating, and making fun of desire, divulging secrets, dredging up the past, looking under the rug.” – Cécile McLorin Salvant
Special pre-show conversation
Before the performance on Thursday 28 May, Cécile will be joined onstage by award-winning multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens. They will discuss the new material Cécile has been developing for the show, and the start of Rhiannon’s year as one of the Cultural Programme’s Cultural Fellows. There will be a short break before Book of Ayres begins at 7.45pm.
Please note: the advertised post-show conversation on Thursday 28 May will now take place before the performance and be slightly shorter.
Performers
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Sullivan Fortner, piano/harpsichord/keyboards
Emi Ferguson, flute
Dušan Balarin, theorbo/lute
Yasushi Nakamura, bass
Keita Ogawa, percussion
