The 73rd DownBeat Critics Poll results are in, and among the winners are repeat winner Ambrose Akinmusire, Trumpeter; Darcy James Argue, Arranger; Mary Halvorson, Guitarist and Group of the Year (Amaryllis); and Cécile McLorin Salvant, Vocalist.

Cécile McLorin Salvant’s new album, Oh Snap, is due September 19. It comprises 12 very personal songs by the singer/composer (plus a cover of a verse from the Commodores’ 1977 hit “Brick House”) mostly recorded outside of a traditional studio environment. The songs showcase her genre-spanning tastes and influences from her 1990s childhood in Miami—from boy bands to grunge to classical to folk—and include party tracks with beats, samba grooves, and quiet folk songs. Salvant wrote the intimate songs as part of a creative quest: To place spontaneity and joy at the center of her writing process. The album features longtime collaborators Sullivan Fortner, Yasushi Nakamura, and Kyle Poole, plus cameos from singers June McDoom and Kate Davis. You can watch a video for the title track here.

Congratulations to winners of the 2025 JJA Jazz Awards Cécile McLorin Salvant for Female Vocalist of the Year, which she won last year, and, with pianist Sullivan Fortner, Duo of the Year; Ambrose Akinmusire for Trumpeter of the Year, which he won last year; and Mary Halvorson for Guitarist of the Year, which she won last year.

The Philharmonie de Paris has announced its 2025/26 season, including concerts by Cécile McLorin Salvant, Chris Thile, Brad Mehldau & Christian McBride, and Laurie Anderson, and a performance of The Blue Hour.

Congratulations to Darcy James Argue, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Ambrose Akinmusire, Mary Halvorson, and Brad Mehldau on their JJA Jazz Association's 2025 JJA Jazz Awards nominations: Argue for Composer of the Year and Arranger of the Year, which he won last year, and, with Secret Society, Large Ensemble of the Year; Salvant for Female Vocalist of the Year, which she won last year, and, with pianist Sullivan Fortner Duo of the Year; Akinmusire for Trumpeter of the Year, which he won last year; Halvorson for Guitarist of the Year, which she won last year; and Mehldau for Pianist of the Year.

Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley, has announced its 2025–26 concert season, including Zellerbach Hall performances by Kronos Quartet, Jeremy Denk, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Chris Thile, and Rhiannon Giddens and Silkroad Ensemble.

Little Island in NYC announced its 2025 summer season, including performances by Davóne Tines in The Gospel at Colonus, Laurie Anderson and Sam Amidon in an Arthur Russell marathon curated by Thomas Bartlett, Amidon leading a shape-note singalong, Jeremy Denk with Conor Hanick, and Ringdown in a collaboration with choreographers Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, plus several concerts curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant.

Congratulations to Cécile McLorin Salvant, who has been nominated for the Deutscher Jazzpreis in Germany for Live Act of the Year International. She was nominated in the same category last year and won the prize for International Vocal Album for her 2022 Nonesuch debut album, Ghost Song. The awards ceremony will take place in Cologne on June 13. Salvant is currently on tour in Italy and France, then returns to the US to perform at Carnegie Hall in NYC and tour New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Maryland, California, Nevada, South Carolina, Michigan, and more. 

"Multiple Grammy Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Cécile McLorin Salvant is a fearless singer, composer, and visual artist who is one of the most highly regarded jazz vocalists of her generation," David Krauss, MET Opera Principal Trumpet and host of the Speaking Soundly podcast, says of his guest. You can hear their conversation about Salvant's life and music, including her Carnegie Hall Perspectives series this concert season, here.

Cécile McLorin Salvant "is now one of the essential figures in today's jazz," says ARTE, who filmed the singer in concert with her band at Leverkusen Jazz Festival in Germany last month. "Critics are full of praise for Cécile McLorin Salvant. Those who have already had the chance to see the triple Grammy Award winner in concert know that this praise is justified." You can watch the concert here.

Cécile McLorin Salvant, who begins her Carnegie Hall Perspectives series this Saturday, stopped by for the Nonesuch Selects video series, in which artists visit the Nonesuch office, pick some of their favorite albums from the music library, and share a few words on their choices. She chose recordings by Philip Glass, Jeff Parker, Caroline Shaw & Attacca Quartet, Early Music Consort of London, Björk, Caetano Veloso, Steve Reich, Dawn Upshaw, Adam Guettel, Gipsy Kings, and monks from Khampagar Monastery.

The 72nd DownBeat Critics Poll results are in, and among the winners are Darcy James Argue, Arranger; Mary Halvorson, Guitar; Cécile McLorin Salvant, Female Vocalist; and Ambrose Akinmusire, Trumpet—all of whose albums are among the Jazz Albums of the Year—and Rhiannon Giddens, Beyond Artist and Beyond Album of the Year.