Percussionist

Empire Central is an homage to Dallas, with many of its songs inspired by the collective’s time in the city. And like the city, the eclectic 19-piece electric ensemble is big and bold, chill and laid back, rooted in its native culture while reaching forward. Led by Michael League on bass, Snarky Puppy was formed in 2004 by 10 friends who were enrolled in the jazz program at the University of North Texas. With 13 albums in 18 years that have garnered four Grammy Awards, Snarky Puppy has attracted international fandom for its detailed arrangements of fetching melodies, texturally layered harmonies, exciting solos, ear-candy synth effects, and propulsive beats. Its distinctly Southwestern influences — blues, hard rock, classic soul, modern gospel, percolating funk, new tech, fusion, and jazz — never sound derivative but conjure music that’s fresh and original.

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Snarky Puppy Performance

University of Michigan

The singer, composer, and visual artist has a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between blues, folk traditions from around the world, theater, jazz, and Baroque music. She is an eclectic curator who unearths rarely recorded, forgotten songs with interesting power dynamics and unexpected twists; a composer of new songs; and a visual artist who works in the medium of textile drawings. Each of her past three recordings has won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and in 2020 she was named a MacArthur fellow. The New York Times called Ghost Song, released in March 2022 “her most revealing and rewarding album yet.”

Cécile McLorin Salvant

The singular Cécile McLorin Salvant is a composer, singer, and visual artist. Salvant has developed a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, folk traditions from around the world, theater, jazz, and baroque music. Salvant is an eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor. Salvant won the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010. She has received Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album for her 3 latest albums, The Window, Dreams and Daggers, and For One To Love. In 2020, Salvant received the MacArthur fellowship and the Doris Duke Artist Award. In 2020, Salvant created Yolk, a virtual cross-disciplinary performance space. It features her own hand-drawn animation, compositions, and music, in collaboration with dancers, visual artists, musicians, and actors from around the world.

Bass Concert Hall

Last we saw Cécile McLorin Salvant, one of the great jazz singers, she held a Jackson Hall audience captive with her majestic song cycle Ogresse. It would be the last performance before the Mondavi Center shut down for a 19-month, pandemic-related pause. Now the singer returns with Ghost Song, a remarkable album born during the pandemic, on which Salvant interprets songs from Kate Bush, Gregory Porter alongside her stunning original compositions. It’s another reminder that Salvant is an artist whose voice and artistry continue to grow with every new step she takes. “People think that I sing love songs, but more and more I’m realizing that I sing about yearning and the imagination that comes from wanting something and not having it,” says Salvant.  “That’s really when we’re at our most creative.”

Cécile McLorin Salvant Quintet

Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

This special event transforms The Conrad for the spellbinding, once-in-a-generation vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, a multi-GRAMMY-winner and MacArthur Fellow. Salvant has a captivating passion for storytelling and weaves together jazz, blues, Baroque, and folk traditions from the world over. This evening’s concert will feature works from her new album, Ghost Song, her “most revealing and rewarding album yet” (The New York Times). You’ll leave the concert entranced, but don’t float away too soon. Stick around after the show for the best of San Diego’s culinary scene, craft cocktails, and more live music.

Keita Ogawa

Percussionist

Events

Sep 10, 2023

Snarky Puppy Performance · University Musical Society

Apr 14, 2023

Cécile McLorin Salvant · University Musical Society

Mar 11, 2023

Cécile McLorin Salvant · Texas Performing Arts

Jan 27, 2023

Cécile McLorin Salvant Quintet · Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Aug 17, 2022

Synergy Under the Influence: Cécile McLorin Salvant · La Jolla Music Society

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