“Her music shows off her passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, jazz, baroque, and folkloric music. And her latest album, Mélusine, showcases all of that,” Jess Gillam says of Cécile McLorin Salvant, her guest on BBC Radio 3’s This Classical Life. “Her live shows are absolutely electric, full of drama, invention, and commitment to the music.” Salvant shares some of her favorite music—by Puccini, Gabriel Bataille, Camarón de la Isla, and Wanda Jackson—as does Gillam, whose own selections include (past This Classical Life guest) Caroline Shaw’s Plan & Elevation: V. The Beech Tree, from Orange, Shaw’s Grammy-winning Nonesuch debut album performed by Attacca Quartet. You can hear the music and Shaw and Gillam’s conversation about what inspired them to choose the pieces in the episode below via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Cécile McLorin Salvant’s album Mélusine has been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album and for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals, for the album track "Fenestra," arranged by Godwin Louis. Mélusine is a mix of originals and interpretations of songs dating as far back as the 12th century, mostly sung in French along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl. They tell the folk tale of Mélusine, a woman who turns into a half-snake each Saturday after a childhood curse by her mother.