Cécile McLorin Salvant
“Being Alive”
Nonesuch Records (available via Bandcamp)
In Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical “Company,” the character Robert starts to realize that being a lone wolf isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That “someone to sit in your chair, to ruin your sleep” might be a better way to live life.
Singer Cécile McLorin Salvant is realizing the same thing. Except for the three-time Grammy winner, it’s all about adding an orchestra behind her stunning, once-in-a-generation voice.
Salvant’s take on Sondheim’s “Being Alive,” the song that Robert sings at the end of act two in “Company,” is featured on her new album, “With Every Breath I Take,” out now via Nonesuch Records.
It’s a group project -- like, a massive group. She’s backed by the Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley, who also conducted the 60-piece orchestra backing the music of St. Vincent earlier this year on the excellent “Live In London!” album.
The arrangements on the timeless cuts that Salvant picked out for this project were arranged by composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue.
It’s not the first time that Salvant has performed with an orchestra behind her, but it is the first time it’s been put down on a record -- and what an astonishing record this is. It’s a process that took more than four years to put together.
“It is a rare opportunity to be able to make an album at this scale, which has been a dream of mine for many years,” Salvant says in a release via Nonesuch’s website. “Darcy James Argue wrote stunning arrangements and the Metropole Orkest, conducted by the extraordinary Jules Buckley, gave these stories a cinematic dimension. We overcame quite a few obstacles to even get into the recording studio for this project; it took almost four years for us to do so, and I am so incredibly proud to share it.”
“Being Alive” is no doubt a standout; a familiar song for any Broadway obsessives out there. And in the hands of Salvant, its most tender moments are that much more vulnerable. And the rewards of letting yourself love (like the character Robert does) get huge, symphonic payoff.
Sondheim is clearly a favorite inspiration for song choice on this project, but Salvant also takes on classic works from Cy Coleman, Noel Coward, Duke Ellington and others.
This will also be one of the major albums this year that can bring together multiple generations because the works Salvant focuses on are absolutely timeless.
