Video of the Day: Cécile McLorin Salvant releases 'Thunderclouds' from new album Ghost Song

A video for the track, written by Salvant, can be watched below, with the album Ghost Song, due 4 March, featuring a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia, and yearning. Salvant says, “It’s unlike anything I’ve done before – it’s getting closer to reflecting my personality as an eclectic curator. I’m embracing my weirdness!”  Ghost Song may be preordered here and comes with an exclusive, limited edition signed artwork by Salvant when purchased from the Nonesuch Store. Cécile McLorin Salvant plays four shows at SFJAZZ in February and two nights featuring the music of Ghost Song at Jazz at Lincoln Center in May, and will tour Europe in early 2022 (details here).

Salvant says of ‘Thunderclouds’, “I suffer from insomnia, and so do others in my family, and in one way this song is about having to suffer in darkness.  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.  The powerful suggestion of looking through the rain to engage with the sun… That’s a wink to one of my all-time favourite movies, Children of Paradise.  The sentiment of that movie is so aligned with how I was feeling writing this album.  The image of looking down into a well, that sorta goes along with this whole entire theme, about dancing with the ghost of love, dancing with loss, darkness, sadness.  And being joyful in it.”

See the video below and look out for an exclusive interview with Cécile McLorin Salvant in the February issue of Jazzwise – on-sale from 20 January 2022