Cécile McLorin Salvant performs “What does blue mean to you?,” the new single from her upcoming album, Oh Snap, at SFJAZZ in a new video you can watch below. She is joined by Sullivan Fortner on piano, Yasushi Nakamura on bass, and Kyle Poole on drums for the performance, which was filmed live at SFJAZZ on May 2, 2024. Oh Snap is due September 19 on Nonesuch Records and is available to pre-order here.

“I was commissioned to write something based on Toni Morrison’s archive," Salvant says of the new song. "I read Beloved as I was looking through her archive. I had never read it. I read it pretty late, I would say, in my life … I should have read it earlier. The song is about all these colors that are in the book and the ways that the characters interact with the colors. I’m really glad we put that on the album because it is quite different from all the other songs, but you could say that about every song probably."

You can hear the album version here:

Oh Snap comprises twelve very personal songs by Salvant—plus a cover of a verse from the Commodores’ 1977 hit “Brick House”—mostly recorded outside of a traditional studio environment and showcasing her genre-spanning tastes and influences. Oh Snap features longtime collaborators Sullivan Fortner, Yasushi Nakamura, and Kyle Poole, as well as cameos from singers June McDoom and Kate Davis. Salvant has tour dates throughout the summer and fall; details and tickets at nonesuch.com/on-tour.

The MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy-winning singer and composer wrote these short, intimate songs as part of a creative quest: To place spontaneity and joy at the center of her writing process. She originally recorded them alone, at home, never intending for them to be released, using digital tools and effects that she had never played with before, like GarageBand, Logic, AutoTune, Midi plugins, drum loops, vocal effects, reverb, and filters. The songs reflect Salvant’s wide-ranging musical 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.

“I felt I had lost a connection to music because it was something that I felt I should do in a certain way and do well,” she says. “I thought, ‘How can I bring music back in close to me, intimately? ... What would I build if I could just build it alone, based on who I am?’ … How could I use music as a way of journaling?’”

Hearing Things said of the previously released title track, “Here’s a song that perfectly captures the moment you realize you might be feeling feelings … As the song progresses, it twinkles and fades out until Salvant samples a trepidatious low note into a counter-rhythm for a house-y dance bit with roller-disco synths … a beautiful observation made more extraordinary by her gymnastic vocal timbre—perfectly executed Simone Biles backflips all the way up and down the scale … you can really hear Salvant’s exceptional vocal clarity and control. She’s gliding over those half-steps like it’s nothing.”